BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 3,877 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 507.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 132,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,111,000 after purchasing an additional 110,922 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 780,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,063,000 after purchasing an additional 381,893 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 119.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 460,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,365,000 after purchasing an additional 251,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covenant Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,337,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $78.46 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.37 and a 200-day moving average of $59.61. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.24 and a 52-week high of $81.08.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 59.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on JEF. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $12,618,000.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 604,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,144,592.54. The trade was a 24.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 over the last 90 days. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.