Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $469.52 Million Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 159.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,677,233 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 2.91% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $469,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $52.17 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.72 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.56. The company has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.