Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 130,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 41,078 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $8,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 433.3% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $39.84 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.36. The company has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $35.53 and a one year high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.86% and a net margin of 6.61%.The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

More Jefferies Financial Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Jefferies Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend announced (0.40 per share, ~4.0% yield) — supports income investors and provides baseline shareholder support.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large options activity — investors bought a big volume of JEF calls, signaling some speculative/hedged bullish interest in the shares.
• Positive Sentiment: Profit rose on dealmaking: Jefferies reported higher profits driven by investment‑banking revenue, which underpins the firm’s strength in advisory and markets. Jefferies profit rises on dealmaking
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 results characterized as mixed — some outlets say earnings met consensus and revenue rose on strong IB and equities, but other reporting highlights offsetting weakness in fixed income and private credit. JEF’s Q1 Earnings Meet Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies’ research team made portfolio moves unrelated to JEF’s balance sheet (Christopher Wood sold HDFC Bank and cut India weightings) — reputational/newsflow effect for Jefferies as a broker, but indirect for JEF share value. Jefferies’ Chris Wood sells HDFC Bank
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑lending blowups produced a tangible charge (reported ~$17M in losses), which directly pressured quarterly results and investor sentiment around Jefferies’ credit exposure. How Did Private-Lending Blowups Affect Jefferies’ Bottom Line?
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies disclosed an additional ~$10M First Brands loss/write‑off — another hit tied to credit exposures that reduced reported profitability. Jefferies reports new $10mn First Brands loss
• Negative Sentiment: Investor litigation inquiry: Pomerantz LLP has opened an investigation into claims on behalf of JEF investors, which raises legal/settlement risk and can weigh on sentiment. Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims on Behalf of Investors of Jefferies
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman lowered its JEF price target (from $54 to $47) — while maintaining a buy, the cut reduces the analyst‑implied upside and can damp buying interest. Goldman Sachs lowed JEF price target

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley cut Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.14.

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.