Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 39.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,582 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,232,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $210,591,000 after purchasing an additional 76,327 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $168,998,000 after acquiring an additional 389,385 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $202,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $154,153,000 after acquiring an additional 167,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on 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 raised Jefferies Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $16,125,655.20. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,632,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,424,460.40. This trade represents a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $1.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,636,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,993. The company has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.77 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.63.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

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.