Commerce Bank Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Commerce Bank purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 87,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,382,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 77.6% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 665.4% in the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE JEF opened at $52.35 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 1.54. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.53 and a 52 week high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.