Quantinno Capital Management LP Sells 120,771 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Quantinno Capital Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 258,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 120,771 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $10,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 64,682 shares during the last quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,041,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $2,941,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,895,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth $897,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Oppenheimer lowered 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 research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $55.73 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.69%.

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.