Entropy Technologies LP Grows Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 360.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,664 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $5,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 15,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 5,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $55.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.07. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $71.04.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.62.

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.