Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $21.80 Million Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 278,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,219 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. owned about 0.13% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $21,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake 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. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,594,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $65.80 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.77 and its 200-day moving average is $69.32. 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 has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08 and a beta of 1.34. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.72 and a 52 week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report 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.