Short Interest in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Decreases By 69.4%

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,400,000 shares, a decline of 69.4% from the January 15th total of 11,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $469,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677,233 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% during 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $415,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,335 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,476,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,110,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,565,591. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $40.67 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $76.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.62. The company has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98 and a beta of 1.34.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 46.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

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.