Allianz Asset Management GmbH Lowers Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 37.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,092 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $6,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on JEF. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $60.00 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 1.50. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $74.74.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.13. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 56.54%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.