Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 34.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,286 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JEF. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.8% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 46,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 3,383 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 132,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 6,890 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.0% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 8.9% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 70,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,482,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $607,163,000 after purchasing an additional 233,844 shares during the last quarter. 63.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.4 %

JEF opened at $34.73 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.31. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $28.34 and a one year high of $40.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 6.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. TheStreet upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Three 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, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Joseph S. Steinberg sold 225,311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.87, for a total value of $8,081,905.57. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 16,225,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $582,004,559.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Chairman Joseph S. Steinberg sold 218,792 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.85, for a total transaction of $8,062,485.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 16,673,452 shares in the company, valued at $614,416,706.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Joseph S. Steinberg sold 225,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.87, for a total value of $8,081,905.57. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 16,225,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $582,004,559.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 578,320 shares of company stock valued at $20,948,017 over the last quarter. 20.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc engages in the investment banking and capital markets, and asset management businesses in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, restructurings or recapitalizations and private capital advisory transactions; equity and debt underwriting; and corporate lending.