Arnhold LLC Cuts Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Arnhold LLC lowered its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 36,357 shares during the quarter. Arnhold LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $6,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $469,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677,233 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $421,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094,191 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,179 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $415,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,335 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.3 %

JEF traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $46.93. 1,266,948 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,580,244. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st.

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.