6,661 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Purchased by Bayesian Capital Management LP

Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 88.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,113,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,876,529 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $88,852,000. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,126.9% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 587,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,737,000 after buying an additional 539,534 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,272,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,231,000 after buying an additional 510,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,037,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of JEF opened at $58.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.38 and a 1 year high of $59.08.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 66.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was 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 owns 2,591,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,979,505. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.