Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stock Holdings Increased by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 60,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,293 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $286,476,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,232,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,591,000 after buying an additional 76,327 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,998,000 after acquiring an additional 389,385 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,153,000 after purchasing an additional 167,270 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This trade represents a 31.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151 over the last three months. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF opened at $74.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96 and a beta of 1.35. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.77 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.39. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.98%.

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.