Greenleaf Trust Sells 566 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 566 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $111,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF stock opened at $44.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.81 and a 1 year high of $47.39. The company has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.21.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on 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 downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.