Fulton Bank N.A. Buys New Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Common Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 66.6% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 159,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,939,000 after purchasing an additional 63,766 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $267,000. Finally, PGGM Investments increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 65,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,905,000 after buying an additional 19,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.49. 237,387 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,140,083. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.38 and a 12 month high of $59.30. The stock has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.25 and a 200 day moving average of $45.71.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The company’s revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on JEF. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of 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 lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the president now directly owns 2,591,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,979,505. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.