Entropy Technologies LP Invests $990,000 in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 9,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $990,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SF. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 27.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 36.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities upped their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE:SF opened at $109.62 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.22. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. 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 1.68%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.92%.

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.