Edgestream Partners L.P. Decreases Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 52.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,929 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,722,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 158,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,996,000 after buying an additional 8,615 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 263,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,621,000 after buying an additional 14,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $582,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.08. 99,084 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,110,165. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.46. The company has a market cap of $11.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.38 and a 1 year high of $57.28.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 66.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.30, for a total transaction of $2,546,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 2,591,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,979,505. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,165,525. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.