Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 714 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 714 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,236,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,920 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 100.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,290,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,282,000 after acquiring an additional 646,666 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 80.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,265,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,337,000 after acquiring an additional 562,810 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,002,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,726,000 after acquiring an additional 13,911 shares during the period. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.5% during the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 842,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,877,000 after purchasing an additional 86,898 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $43.22 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.22 and a 200 day moving average of $39.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.81 and a 12 month high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.