Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Stake Lifted by CI Investments Inc.

CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEFFree Report) by 429.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,891 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,145,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 29,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE JEF opened at $44.54 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.28 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.52.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEFGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.13. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 6.56%.The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 56.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.71.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Jefferies Financial Group this week:

About Jefferies Financial Group

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JEF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEFFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF)

Receive News & Ratings for Jefferies Financial Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Jefferies Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.