Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 9,516 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,946 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,516 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $7,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 507.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 132,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,111,000 after buying an additional 110,922 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $202,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,731 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 3,877 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 29,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 47.6% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 38,555 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 12,441 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 8.6 %

Shares of JEF stock traded down $4.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,064,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,516,861. The company has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.37. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $64.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.25. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.72 and a 52 week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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 business 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. 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.