343 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Acquired by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 18.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 4,349 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $218,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 102.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $7,386,000 after buying an additional 112,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $71.45 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $76.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.67 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98 and a beta of 1.34.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.