Custom Index Systems LLC Lowers Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Custom Index Systems LLC lessened its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,888 shares during the quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth $81,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 105.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of JEF opened at $56.12 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $55.60 and its 200 day moving average is $48.34. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.38 and a fifty-two week high of $59.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

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.