Whitener Capital Management Inc. Sells 300 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $286,476,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% in the 4th 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. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,998,000 after buying an additional 389,385 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $75.74 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.77 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.63. 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 company has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company 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 7.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 560,507 shares in the company, valued at $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer decreased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, December 9th.

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.