Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Creative Planning

Creative Planning trimmed its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,860 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elequin Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% in the first quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 48.8% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3,577.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 87.9% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $78,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $55.28 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.05.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 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 the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.