First Financial Bankshares Inc Purchases Shares of 17,243 Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,829,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Stifel Financial by 78.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

NYSE SF opened at $96.18 on Wednesday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $73.51 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Stifel Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.71.

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.