Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 490,389 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 157.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 802,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 490,389 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.39% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $62,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 8,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $0.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $74.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,235,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,334,114. The company has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm's fifty day moving average is $77.27 and its 200 day moving average is $65.39. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.77 and a 12 month high of $82.68.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 10.57%. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock 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 lifted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,431,026.25. The trade was a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company's stock.

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.