Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 1,790 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,790 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,386.7% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 141,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,064,000 after buying an additional 132,414 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $726,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,718,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 299,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,422,000 after purchasing an additional 7,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,534.8% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 120,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,386,000 after purchasing an additional 112,666 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo purchased 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $551,773,323.27. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of JEF opened at $78.58 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.34 and a fifty-two week high of $78.74. The firm has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 59.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group began coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.