M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Buys Shares of 5,400 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.7 %

JEF stock opened at $75.74 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.77 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The firm has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.44 and its 200-day moving average is $65.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151 in the last three months. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.