Barclays PLC Grows Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,134,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,044 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $167,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 20.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 29,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 5,065 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 232.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 280,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,174,000 after purchasing an additional 195,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth $6,455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of JEF opened at $43.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 1.29. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

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.