Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) is Private Capital Management LLC's 7th Largest Position

Private Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 24.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 582,025 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 189,100 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group comprises about 7.2% of Private Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Private Capital Management LLC owned 0.28% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $35,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth $286,476,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $202,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,153,000 after acquiring an additional 167,270 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $123,987,000 after acquiring an additional 344,409 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,645,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $129,028,000 after acquiring an additional 47,141 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 3.7 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded down $2.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $63.78. 1,437,662 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,349,209. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.72 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $74.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research 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.