39,437 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Acquired by Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC

Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 39,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,971,000. Jefferies Financial Group comprises 0.5% of Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $385,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth $3,640,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth $127,242,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,509,000. Finally, Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,382,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JEF. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.0%

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $52.35 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.93.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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 reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.