Insider Selling: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) CEO Sells 1,500,000 Shares of Stock

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $44.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.21. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.81 and a 52-week high of $47.39.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 88.9% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,113,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,876,529 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,405,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,046,000 after purchasing an additional 51,633 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,272,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,231,000 after purchasing an additional 510,125 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,852,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,507,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,929,000 after purchasing an additional 242,769 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on JEF shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.