Boston Partners Decreases Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Boston Partners cut its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 23.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,964 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $2,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,461,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $817,794,000 after purchasing an additional 391,384 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 7.0% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,932,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,199,000 after buying an additional 191,896 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.2% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,799,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,649,000 after buying an additional 56,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 12.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,332,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,143,000 after buying an additional 151,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,369,000. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF traded down $4.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $81.84. The stock had a trading volume of 796,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,407. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $82.10 and its 200 day moving average is $78.56. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $54.81 and a 12-month high of $90.00.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 11.59%. Stifel Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SF shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Stifel Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.50.

Stifel Financial Profile

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.