Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Robotti Robert

Robotti Robert cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 407,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,672 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for approximately 5.6% of Robotti Robert’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Robotti Robert owned about 0.20% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $31,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,594,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $60.33 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.72 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.52.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.31). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.