Greenleaf Trust Acquires 179 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,905,000 after buying an additional 490,389 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 780,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,063,000 after purchasing an additional 381,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,987,000 after purchasing an additional 344,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of 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 raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $74.78 on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.58 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.53 and a 200-day moving average of $67.76.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued 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 return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.98%.

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.