SouthState Corp Lowers Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

SouthState Corp decreased its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 39.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 46,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,857,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.8% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SF traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.77. 509,544 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 607,984. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.10. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $54.81 and a fifty-two week high of $82.14. The firm has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 11.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 38.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total transaction of $1,038,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,489,815.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total value of $1,038,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,489,815.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,421 shares of company stock worth $5,639,783 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

About Stifel Financial

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.