NewEdge Advisors LLC Acquires 12,071 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 81.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,909 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,071 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,518,000 after buying an additional 3,677,233 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $421,882,000 after buying an additional 2,094,191 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $415,031,000 after buying an additional 1,127,335 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,179 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $43.36 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.32. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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