Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,247,081 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $724,971,000. Jefferies Financial Group comprises 9.7% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. owned 4.49% of Jefferies Financial Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,476,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,153,000 after purchasing an additional 167,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $788,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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 report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of JEF stock traded up $0.21 on Friday, hitting $42.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,770,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,561,987. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.24. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

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.