10,361 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Purchased by Sylvest Advisors LLC

Sylvest Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $812,000. Jefferies Financial Group comprises approximately 0.5% of Sylvest Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total transaction of $28,391,461.49. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 560,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,451,790.19. This trade represents a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.3 %

JEF opened at $76.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.39. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.58 and a one year high of $82.68. The stock has a market cap of $15.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

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.