AIA Group Ltd Acquires 6,289 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 149.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,289 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 58,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,957,000 after buying an additional 10,500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 81,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,808,000 after buying an additional 44,219 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 57,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,985,000 after buying an additional 4,405 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 165,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,192,000 after buying an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $550,000. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $1,887,763.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,687,484.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Stifel Financial news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $2,713,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 54,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 90,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,687,484.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SF. UBS Group increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:SF opened at $75.31 on Friday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $54.81 and a 12-month high of $78.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.70.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 11.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.25%.

Stifel Financial Company 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.