Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $318,000 Investment in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 105.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:JEF traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.47. 757,206 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,148,667. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.38 and a 12-month high of $59.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.86.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th.

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.