HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF – Get Rating) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,016 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 17,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Kwmg LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 15,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Boenning & Scattergood Inc. raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Boenning & Scattergood Inc. now owns 17,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 66.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $30.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.38. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.88 and a 1-year high of $40.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $30.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.84.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on JEF. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.00.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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Jefferies Financial Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. The Investment Banking and Capital Markets segment provides investment banking, capital markets, and other related services.