Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes Position in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 241,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,855,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SF. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,031,197,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,451,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,674,000 after acquiring an additional 419,038 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 94.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,893,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $362,368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,347 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 51.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,403,000 after acquiring an additional 890,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 2.0% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,371,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,128,000 after purchasing an additional 45,631 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total value of $372,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $79.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.99. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $67.81 and a 1 year high of $89.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.09. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. Stifel Financial’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on SF shares. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.90.

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.