Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Purchased by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 927.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,474 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% during the second 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 during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3,577.8% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights that a pickup in deal-making and IPO activity benefits investment banks, naming Jefferies (JEF) as a way to play a rebound in advisory and capital-markets fees — a cyclical tailwind for JEF’s revenue mix. MS or JEF: Which Stock to Bet on Amid Surge in Deal-making and IPOs?
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies research teams remain active with multiple Buy initiations and reaffirmations (Avio, Swedencare, Severfield, ATOSS, Avon Protection). Ongoing analyst coverage underlines Jefferies’ market-facing research and potential origination/contact channels that support advisory pipelines. Avio S.p.A.: Strengthened Balance Sheet and Expanding Order Book Support Buy Rating and Above‑Guidance Growth Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Several Jefferies analysts maintained Hold ratings on names like Metso Outotec, Synthomer and Greencore — a reminder that Jefferies’ research output covers a broad range of clients and sectors but not all notes imply immediate fee-generating mandates. Hold Rating Maintained as Improving Fundamentals Offset by Richer Valuation After Share Rerating
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood reduced India weighting in his Asia portfolio, citing heavy positioning in AI-linked North Asia stocks; this reflects macro/sector rotation themes that affect investor flows but is indirect for JEF’s fundamentals. Jefferies’ Chris Wood cuts India weightage in portfolio. Here’s why

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $61.17 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $77.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.47 and its 200-day moving average is $60.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.