Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 2,559 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 65.5% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 78,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 31,119 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 29,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $245,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,122,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,569,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $56.24 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.72 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.37. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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. 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 research report on Friday, January 3rd.

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.