HighTower Advisors LLC Has $2.42 Million Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 40,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 5,855 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $574,000. Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 65.5% during the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 78,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 31,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.5 %

JEF opened at $59.46 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.72 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.05 and a 200-day moving average of $69.43.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.69%.

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.