Virtu Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 2,355 Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SF. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 78.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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 lifted their price target on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 3.2 %

Stifel Financial stock opened at $93.92 on Friday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12 month low of $73.51 and a 12 month high of $120.64. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05 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 the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 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.