Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 20.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 200,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,989 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $13,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,145,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 48.8% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE:JEF opened at $60.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $74.74.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 7.27%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.71.

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.