Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,000 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $6,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of JEF stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,540,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,591. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $54.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.05. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.