AMG National Trust Bank Reduces Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

AMG National Trust Bank lessened its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 23.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,512 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.5% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 34,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,127,000 after buying an additional 1,790 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 14,055.6% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,259 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 299,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,422,000 after buying an additional 7,889 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,144,592.54. The trade was a 24.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $74.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 831,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,555. The firm has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a PE ratio of 31.72 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company's 50-day moving average is $64.74 and its 200-day moving average is $56.04. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.34 and a 52 week high of $75.81.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 59.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company.

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.