Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Makes New Investment in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 167,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,664,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SF. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 23,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,936,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 3,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stifel Financial

In related news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total transaction of $372,240.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,729 shares in the company, valued at $453,736.80. This represents a 45.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SF opened at $81.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $67.81 and a 12-month high of $89.83.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 24.33%.

About Stifel Financial

Stifel Financial Corp. is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1890, the firm has grown into a full‐service brokerage and investment banking organization serving individual investors, corporations and institutions. Through its principal subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, the company delivers a broad array of financial products and services backed by research‐driven insights.

The firm’s main business activities are organized into two core segments: Private Client Group and Institutional Group.