Bank of Montreal Can Sells 110,096 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 82.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 110,096 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th 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. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,346,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,579,329. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.60. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.29.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 55.36%.

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.