Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Position Boosted by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 45.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $72,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JEF. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 46,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,892,000 after buying an additional 2,486 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth $1,718,000. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 74.9% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 24,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 10,279 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at about $332,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,515,000 after purchasing an additional 28,011 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF opened at $56.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.47 and a 200-day moving average of $69.64. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.72 and a 52-week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.