Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Cuts Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY decreased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,318,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,291 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for about 3.4% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned about 0.64% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $103,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 55,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,375,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $74.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.09. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.70 and a 52-week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.98%.

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.