Allworth Financial LP Buys 1,995 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 163.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,995 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $65.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.72 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.00.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

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.