Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires 26,600 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 224.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,600 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 48.8% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3,577.8% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of JEF traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.15. 43,246 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,946,854. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.92. The company has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96 and a beta of 1.51. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $77.83.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.13. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $55.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.