Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $62.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.72 and a one year high of $82.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. 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 payout ratio is 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

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.