Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Stock Position Lowered by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,279 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,990,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,374,000 after acquiring an additional 578,013 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,808,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,723,000 after purchasing an additional 819,594 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,126,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,627,000 after buying an additional 1,184,822 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth $58,972,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 87.8% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 798,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,749,000 after acquiring an additional 373,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $55.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released 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. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.83.

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.