Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Raises Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 1.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 89,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $6,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 12.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 151,046 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth $84,369,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,208,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,539,000 after purchasing an additional 6,645 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,128,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,067,000 after purchasing an additional 136,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 690,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,778,000 after purchasing an additional 20,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $89.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.75.

Insider Transactions at Stifel Financial

In other news, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total transaction of $1,038,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,489,815.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Stifel Financial stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.75. 4,163 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $54.81 and a 12-month high of $85.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.82. The company has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 1.11.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 12.40%. Stifel Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.18%.

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.