Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 15,365 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,365 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $5,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,461,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $817,794,000 after buying an additional 391,384 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,954,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,587,000 after acquiring an additional 22,040 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,007,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,932,000 after acquiring an additional 7,113 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,799,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,649,000 after purchasing an additional 56,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 0.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,189,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,058,000 after purchasing an additional 7,348 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE SF opened at $114.05 on Friday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $59.16 and a 12-month high of $117.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SF. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Stifel Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.33.

Stifel Financial Profile

Stifel Financial Corp., a financial services and bank holding company, provides retail and institutional wealth management, and investment banking services to individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Global Wealth Management, Institutional Group, and Other.