Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Position Cut by Macquarie Group Ltd.

Macquarie Group Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF – Get Rating) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,223 shares during the quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 155.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 332.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. 66.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $33.02 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $25.88 and a one year high of $40.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.16 and a 200-day moving average of $35.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 12.90%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.60%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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Jefferies Financial Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. The Investment Banking and Capital Markets segment provides investment banking, capital markets, and other related services.