ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC Grows Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 30.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,012 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for approximately 0.1% of ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $5,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $224,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,325,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 226,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,798,000 after acquiring an additional 17,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $52.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54 and a beta of 1.54. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.53 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.61.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.69%.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.