Raymond James Trust N.A. Raises Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake 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 last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $81,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock traded up $0.37 on Monday, hitting $59.35. 113,009 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,138,906. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.38 and a 12-month high of $59.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.17. The company has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 1.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

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.