Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 162,918 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 36.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 285,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 162,918 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $15,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 8,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 8,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Zacks Research cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $65.51 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.98. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The stock has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 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.