MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $7.61 Million Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,050 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,540 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $7,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 62.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 586,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,970,000 after purchasing an additional 225,873 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $532,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,295,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 26,909 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 12,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.80. 1,540,603 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,581,503. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.28 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50-day moving average price is $53.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.99.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company's revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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