Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Takes $220,000 Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.9% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JEF. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total transaction of $28,391,461.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 560,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at $6,431,026.25. This trade represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE JEF opened at $80.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.14. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $37.95 and a one year high of $81.92.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 59.83%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.