Endure Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Endure Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 28,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,190,000. Jefferies Financial Group comprises approximately 0.8% of Endure Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $55.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.07. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.