Castleark Management LLC Purchases 10,860 Shares of Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Castleark Management LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,860 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Stifel Financial worth $12,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SF. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 146.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 63,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,900,000 after buying an additional 37,516 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 25.8% in 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. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 804,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,753,000 after purchasing an additional 199,983 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 38.2% in 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. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 29.1% in 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. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on SF shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.15.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $72.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.75. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.90 and a 1 year high of $89.83.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

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.