Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,598,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 71,881 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.78% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $98,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,476,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,718,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 45.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,605 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,515,000 after purchasing an additional 28,011 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $3,337,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 299,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,422,000 after purchasing an additional 7,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $76.22. The stock had a trading volume of 3,488,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,283,409. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.58 and a 1 year high of $82.04. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $72.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.24. The stock has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 100,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $12,618,000.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,144,592.54. This trade represents a 24.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 in the last quarter. 20.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.