Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stock Position Raised by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $286,476,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,153,000 after purchasing an additional 167,270 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $1,718,000. Finally, Covenant Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $3,337,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $65.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.72 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.10. The firm has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 1.34.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on JEF shares. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on 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 increased their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.