Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 476.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 196,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 162,442 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $7,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.7% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 175.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $41.30 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.89. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.81 and a 52 week high of $47.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. 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, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.