Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 8,645 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 32.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,645 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JEF. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% during the third 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. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 102,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,754,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. 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. Finally, United Services Automobile Association increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. 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 raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.33.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $43.42 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.81 and a 12-month 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.08 and its 200 day moving average is $39.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.36%.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.