FORA Capital LLC Takes $672,000 Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,339 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Stifel Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.50.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF traded up $6.91 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $98.30. 1,392,754 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 681,621. The stock has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.83 and a 200-day moving average of $103.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $73.27 and a 52 week high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($1.15). The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Stifel Financial's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

About Stifel Financial

Stifel Financial Corp., a financial services and bank holding company, provides retail and institutional wealth management, and investment banking services to individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Global Wealth Management, Institutional Group, and Other.