Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $965,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 12,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SF shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on 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 Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.15.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

SF opened at $73.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.90 and a 200 day moving average of $78.49. Stifel Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.36 and a fifty-two week high of $89.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85.

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

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Stifel Financial Profile

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.