Stifel Financial Corporation $SF Position Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 48.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,075,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 351,146 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.69% of Stifel Financial worth $79,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 12,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, BOKF NA raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 1,626.9% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective (down from $89.00) on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.75.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $78.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $67.81 and a 1-year high of $89.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.46%.

About Stifel Financial

Stifel Financial Corp. is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1890, the firm has grown into a full‐service brokerage and investment banking organization serving individual investors, corporations and institutions. Through its principal subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, the company delivers a broad array of financial products and services backed by research‐driven insights.

The firm’s main business activities are organized into two core segments: Private Client Group and Institutional Group.