Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 723,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,105 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.71% of Stifel Financial worth $90,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SF. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 12,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the third quarter worth about $39,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.33 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $92.00 price objective on Stifel Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $93.33 to $103.33 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $88.67 to $90.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.15.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Stifel Financial stock opened at $78.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 1.05. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.15 and a 52-week high of $89.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $75.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.97.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 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.