Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $788,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 10,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $788,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JEF. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $300,000. Williamson Legacy Group LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $253,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $707,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 346.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $60.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50-day moving average is $73.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.62. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.72 and a 1 year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.