Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Sells 112,404 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 32.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 230,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 112,404 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned 0.22% of Stifel Financial worth $24,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,107,000 after buying an additional 1,256,595 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Stifel Financial by 78.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,923,000 after acquiring an additional 860,465 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $162,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the third quarter worth $12,290,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth $11,936,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SF shares. JMP Securities raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $92.67 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.15. Stifel Financial Corp. has a one year low of $72.78 and a one year high of $120.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 29.49%.

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.