Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Invests $1.16 Million in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 18,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Nvwm LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of JEF stock opened at $52.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The company has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on JEF. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.14.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.