Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,428,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 141,865 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $88,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $57.86 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.89 and its 200-day moving average is $52.98. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its 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 7.83% and a net margin of 6.61%.The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, March 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.63.

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.