AQR Capital Management LLC Has $35.45 Million Stock Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 334,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,724 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.33% of Stifel Financial worth $35,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 7,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 28,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,040,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Stifel Financial from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.50.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

SF stock traded up $3.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $92.14. The company had a trading volume of 167,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 676,846. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $73.27 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $90.27 and a 200 day moving average of $103.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($1.15). Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.49 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.