Stifel Financial Corporation $SF Holdings Lowered by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,114 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $2,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 2,727.0% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,326,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,243,961 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 314.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,383,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,925,000 after buying an additional 1,049,665 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 529.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 398,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,576,000 after buying an additional 335,257 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Stifel Financial during the first quarter valued at about $28,564,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,620,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,001,080,000 after acquiring an additional 217,415 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Stifel Financial stock opened at $122.94 on Thursday. Stifel Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $73.27 and a fifty-two week high of $125.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 1.14.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 14.95%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SF has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.90.

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.