433,558 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Purchased by Berkshire Hathaway Inc

Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 433,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,669,000. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for approximately 0.0% of Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Berkshire Hathaway Inc owned about 0.22% of Jefferies Financial Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. CX Institutional raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 77.6% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JEF. UBS Group reduced their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.3%

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $53.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.82. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.53 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 44.69%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.