Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,152,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200,561 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group comprises 0.7% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $453,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.14.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $39.63 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.53 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.