Man Group plc Purchases New Position in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 141,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,862,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 430.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 73,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,470,000 after buying an additional 60,042 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 38,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,824,000 after acquiring an additional 12,727 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $1,031,197,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 56.3% in the first quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 134,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,917,000 after acquiring an additional 48,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the first quarter valued at about $4,230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $81.31 on Friday. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $67.81 and a one year high of $89.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.33.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SF has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total transaction of $372,240.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,736.80. The trade was a 45.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Company 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.