Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Raises Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 389,385 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned approximately 1.65% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $168,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at $551,773,323.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 20.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 21st.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of JEF stock traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $62.07. 5,377,424 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,188,188. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $57.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.38 and a 52 week high of $62.67.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The business's revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

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.