Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 196,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,675,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.13% of Stifel Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 5.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 1,162.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 2,488 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 106.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Stifel Financial by 86.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 128,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,349,000 after buying an additional 59,662 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 31,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 10,771 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.90.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In other news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total transaction of $372,240.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,729 shares in the company, valued at $453,736.80. This trade represents a 45.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SF opened at $81.31 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $78.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.25. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $67.81 and a 52-week high of $89.83. The firm has a market cap of $12.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 24.33%.

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.