Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 162,174 Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 162,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $162,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.16% of Stifel Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SF. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $95.32 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $108.47 and a 200-day moving average of $104.21. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $72.78 and a 1-year high of $120.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 29.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SF. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

About Stifel Financial

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.