St. Louis-based Stieven Capital Advisors LP initiated a $29.7 million stake in investment bank and financial services company Jefferies Financial Group Inc., making it the hedge fund manager's largest investment in terms of market value.

Joseph Stieven founded Stieven Capital in 2005 with a focus on investments in U.S. financial institutions. The firm's most recent Form 13F filing shows that its investments had a market value of $681.7 million at June 30 — 8.6% higher than at the end of March.

The latest 13F filing revealed seven new stakes and 12 exits in the second quarter.

Comerica Inc., a Dallas-based bank with about $72 billion in assets, was Stieven's second-largest new investment at $21.0 million. That made the bank the fourth-biggest holding in the firm's overall portfolio in terms of market value. Stieven's smallest initiation was a $2.6 million stake in Business First Bancshares Inc., a community bank based in Baton Rouge, La., that began trading on the Nasdaq in early April and was added to the Russell 3000 Index in June.

Stieven also more than doubled its stake in Citigroup Inc., making the bank its eighth-largest position as of June 30.

All of the hedge fund manager's exits during the quarter involved banks. The largest was a $12.7 million stake in Bank OZK, a regional lender based in Arkansas. Stieven also sold off its investment in Baltimore community bank Howard Bancorp Inc., a stake valued at $10.9 million at the end of March.

Click here for a template that allows users to analyze Stieven Capital Advisors LP's common stock holdings as of June 30, 2018. Click here to view Stieven Capital Advisors LP's current common stock holdings. Company filings including the 13F can be found through the documents tab on a company's briefing book page. Did you enjoy this analysis? Click here to set up real-time alerts for data-driven articles on the U.S. financial sector.