Xponance Inc. Trims Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Xponance Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 856 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,236,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,802,000 after buying an additional 1,406,920 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 100.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,290,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,282,000 after acquiring an additional 646,666 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 80.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,265,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,337,000 after purchasing an additional 562,810 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,002,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,726,000 after purchasing an additional 13,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 842,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,877,000 after purchasing an additional 86,898 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 20.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE JEF opened at $43.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.81 and a 12 month high of $47.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.08 and a 200-day moving average of $39.24.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

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.