Stifel To Acquire Certain Assets Of George K. Baum & Company

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) has entered into a deal to acquire certain assets of George K. Baum & Company (“GKB”). Though the terms were not disclosed, the deal is expected to close in fourth-quarter 2019.

GKB provides services such as structuring, underwriting and marketing of taxable and tax-exempt municipal securities. It is a well-known name in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Utah, and has strong nationwide practices including housing, higher education and independent schools.

The transaction does not include George K. Baum Capital Advisors or Baum Capital Partners, and these businesses will not be impacted by the deal.

“This transaction brings GKB’s nationally recognized municipal securities business to Stifel and further strengthens Stifel’s ability to provide top tier service to municipal issuer clients and non-profit borrowers.” said Ronald J. Kruszewski, Chairman and CEO of Stifel.

Since 2007, Stifel has been acquiring companies to fulfil its strategic vision of becoming a premier wealth management and investment banking firm.

In July 2019, it completed the buyout of Mooreland Partners, an independent M&A and private capital advisory firm that provides services to global technology industry. Through this acquisition, the company has doubled the size of its overall technology practice, and has expanded presence in Europe and Silicon Valley.

Further, in June, it announced plans to acquire the capital markets business, excluding the U.S. cannabis and certain clearing businesses of GMP Capital. With this deal, Stifel will further enhance its institutional business, given the strength in Canadian markets and within the technology, healthcare, cannabis and energy verticals.

The company’s is able to undertake strategic growth actions on the back of its capital strength. Also, diversified sources of revenues are expected to support the bank’s financials. Additionally, it will benefit from improving conditions in the domestic economy.

So far this year, shares of Stifel have gained 27.1%, outperforming the industry’s rally of 2.6%.

The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

A few stocks from the finance space worth a look are SEI Investments Company (NASDAQ:SEIC) , Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) and Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) . All these stocks currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Over the past 30 days, SEI Investments has witnessed 1.3% upward earnings estimate revision for the current year. Its shares have gained 11.2% in the past six months.

Legg Mason’s earnings estimates for fiscal 2020 have been revised 1.4% upward over the past 30 days. Shares of the company have gained 21.7% in the past six months.

Principal Financial earnings estimates for the current year have been revised 2.8% upward over the past 30 days. Shares of the company have gained 8.2% in the past six months.

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