IFP Advisors Inc Lowers Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

IFP Advisors Inc lowered its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 55.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 771 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $37,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after buying an additional 8,229 shares in the last quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $2,467,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $262,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $55.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 1.51. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.33.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.98%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.