Americana Partners LLC Has $235,000 Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Americana Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 561 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $286,476,000. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 worth $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,153,000 after buying an additional 167,270 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,987,000 after buying an additional 344,409 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,394,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,353,000 after buying an additional 118,886 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research 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 research report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $71.86 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.67 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.40 and its 200 day moving average is $68.92.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. 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 2.23%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

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.