Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 3,570 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lessened its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 66.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,570 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,093.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,829,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,549 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 100.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,290,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,282,000 after purchasing an additional 646,666 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 80.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,265,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,337,000 after purchasing an additional 562,810 shares during the period. Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,126.9% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 587,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,737,000 after purchasing an additional 539,534 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $17,037,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 2.6 %

JEF opened at $43.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.24. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.81 and a fifty-two week high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.36%.

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.