HM Payson & Co. Lowers Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

HM Payson & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 925 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $194,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JEF. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $71,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 105.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF stock traded down $1.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $52.76. 887,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,135,903. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.38 and a twelve month high of $59.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96 and a beta of 1.34.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This is a positive change 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 2.65%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 2,591,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,979,505. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate 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.