Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stake Trimmed by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank lowered its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 13.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,891 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JEF. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $62.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $57.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.56. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.38 and a 1 year high of $62.67.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the purchase, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.