Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Holdings Cut by Private Management Group Inc.

Private Management Group Inc. trimmed its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 675,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 236,058 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for 1.9% of Private Management Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Private Management Group Inc. owned about 0.33% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $52,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $286,476,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,987,000 after purchasing an additional 344,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,394,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,353,000 after purchasing an additional 118,886 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.8 %

JEF stock opened at $75.29 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.58 and a one year high of $82.68. The company has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

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.