Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 316.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,991 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Stifel Financial worth $7,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SF. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the second quarter worth $7,415,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 2.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 10,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $987,000 after buying an additional 1,746 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 9,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $576,000. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Stifel Financial from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stifel Financial

In other news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $2,904,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,544,535.42. The trade was a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

SF opened at $113.87 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $110.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.75. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $68.40 and a 1 year high of $119.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.