Boston Partners Lowers Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Boston Partners lowered its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,957 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.07% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $11,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 612.4% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 195,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,341,000 after purchasing an additional 168,203 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $537,000. Wealth Architects LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $3,118,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $61.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,436,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,423,981. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.54. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.72 and a 1 year high of $82.68.

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Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) 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). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

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.