Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 8.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,528,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 144,725 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.74% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $100,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 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 a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 13.7%

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $38.22 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.17 and a 1-year high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.07 billion for 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. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 56.54%.

Key Headlines Impacting Jefferies Financial Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies issued a public response defending its position, saying the loan in question was non‑recourse, was diligenced by the bank, and that the Point Bonita fund acted in good faith — a statement that could limit perceived legal exposure or calm some investors. Jefferies Comments on Western Alliance Bank Lawsuit
• Neutral Sentiment: PhysicsWallah will join a Jefferies‑led investor meeting on March 12 — a routine investor relations/deal engagement that is unlikely to move JEF shares materially but shows ongoing capital‑markets activity. PhysicsWallah to Join Jefferies-Led Investor Meet on March 12
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary assessing JEF valuation after the recent share weakness highlights that analyst targets remain well above current levels — useful context for longer‑term investors but secondary to the immediate legal headlines. Assessing Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) Valuation After Recent Share Price Weakness
• Negative Sentiment: Western Alliance sued Jefferies after recording a ~$126M charge‑off tied to a loan collateralized by receivables from First Brands; the suit alleges Jefferies declined payment under a forbearance arrangement — this legal claim is the primary near‑term catalyst driving the stock decline and higher trading volume. $126M Payment Dispute Sparks Western Alliance Lawsuit Against Jefferies
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP opened an investor investigation into Jefferies — a potential class‑action inquiry that can increase legal costs, create settlement risk, and sustain negative headlines even if the underlying exposure is limited. Pomerantz Investigates Jefferies Investors

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.