Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) is Private Capital Management LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Private Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 812,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 132,500 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group makes up approximately 6.5% of Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $35,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% during the second 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 last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. HMS Capital Management LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 59,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,386,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,092,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,170. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.47. 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 one year low of $31.38 and a one year high of $59.30. The company has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80 and a beta of 1.34.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during 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%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.