Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Bought by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 365,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,602 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.18% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $28,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 4,349 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $42,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 389,623.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 268,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,551,000 after buying an additional 268,840 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 364.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 311,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,202,000 after buying an additional 244,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $1,175,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.8 %

JEF stock opened at $65.52 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.72 and a 52 week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

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.