Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 5,663 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 40.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,663 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 320,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,124,000 after purchasing an additional 42,821 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 110.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,933,000 after acquiring an additional 140,037 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 15,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094,191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $57.76 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $54.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $11.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79 and a beta of 1.48. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.38%.

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.