Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Invests $938,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $938,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,905,000 after acquiring an additional 490,389 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $35,122,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $123,987,000 after acquiring an additional 344,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 10.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded down $4.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.08. 4,042,449 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,526,573. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.25. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.72 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.29.

Remove Ads

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 55.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.