BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 276,806 Shares of Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 245.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 389,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 276,806 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.38% of Stifel Financial worth $48,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 146.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 63,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,900,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 72,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,037,000 after purchasing an additional 14,779 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 55,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,006,000 after purchasing an additional 15,470 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 317,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,818,000 after purchasing an additional 71,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 97.7% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 77,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,716,000 after purchasing an additional 38,342 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $69.39 on Wednesday. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $61.57 and a 1-year high of $89.83. The company has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.29.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SF shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.15.

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.