BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Increases Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 110.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,000 shares during the period. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. owned 0.08% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $10,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position 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 valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $38.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $56.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.84. The firm has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.52. 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 one year low of $35.72 and a one year high of $71.04.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.54%.

Trending Headlines about Jefferies Financial Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies says its exposure to UK mortgage lender MFS will be small — management expects a hit of less than $20 million, limiting potential capital and earnings impact. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing strength in Jefferies’ research franchise: Jefferies analysts initiated coverage on Uno Minda (Buy, target Rs 1,350) and maintained Buy ratings/targets on companies such as Thales, Constellation Software and Haleon — these actions support recurring advisory/research revenue and signal stable client activity. Uno Minda article Thales article Constellation article Haleon article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies has publicly defended itself against the Western Alliance lawsuit — a necessary step but it leaves outcome uncertainty; the firm’s comments may reduce some investor fear if they are persuasive. Defense article
• Negative Sentiment: Western Alliance filed a $126.4M lawsuit tied to a loan connected to bankrupt First Brands, alleging breach and fraud — this prompted immediate market selling and raises litigation, potential indemnity or reserve risk. Zacks article
• Negative Sentiment: Kaplan Fox launched an investigation into potential securities-law violations at Jefferies — a separate regulatory/legal overhang that can increase legal costs, management distraction and investor uncertainty. Kaplan Fox article
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley downgraded JEF from Overweight to Equal Weight and set a $49 price target — a high-profile analyst downgrade can pressure sentiment even if the target still implies upside from current levels. Finviz note

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley cut Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.57.

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.