Sei Investments Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 423,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,228 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.21% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $33,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $14,005,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,230 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 25,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 4.8 %

NYSE JEF opened at $62.22 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.72 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for 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%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 53.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

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.