Poplar Forest Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 27.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 36,592 shares during the period. Poplar Forest Capital LLC owned about 0.10% of Stifel Financial worth $6,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SF. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 690,928 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,778,000 after buying an additional 20,428 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 76,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,271,000 after buying an additional 37,047 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 149.3% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 10,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 6,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 52,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,644,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 90,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,687,484.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $2,713,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 54,732 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,687,484.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.52% of the company's stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SF traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.28. 792,515 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 549,141. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. Stifel Financial Corp. has a one year low of $54.81 and a one year high of $79.23.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.50.

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.

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