Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 25.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,559 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JEF. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 9,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 6,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFC Planning Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE JEF opened at $53.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 1.45. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.28 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.76.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

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.