67,014 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Bought by Jupiter Topco LLC

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 67,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,352,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.2% in the third 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. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 6.4% during the third quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $51.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of 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. Loop Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on 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 research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.