Principal Securities Inc. Raises Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 161.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $286,476,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,153,000 after buying an additional 167,270 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $1,718,000. Finally, Covenant Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $3,337,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $64.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick 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.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase 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.