Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Stock Position Increased by Eminence Capital LP

Eminence Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,812,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 454,054 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group comprises about 3.7% of Eminence Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Eminence Capital LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $236,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 245.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 651,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,603,000 after purchasing an additional 462,546 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 132,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,196,000 after buying an additional 64,682 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 147,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,848,000 after buying an additional 31,288 shares during the last quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,041,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 284.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 226,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,835,000 after acquiring an additional 167,817 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.38.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $61.90 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.22. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.53 and a 52 week high of $71.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 6.61%.The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.