M&T Bank Corp Grows Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 54,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 102,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,754,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE JEF opened at $45.84 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.95. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.33 and a 52 week high of $47.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57 and a beta of 1.36.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.36%.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.