Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 32,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,569,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. FMR LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 167,270 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $123,987,000 after purchasing an additional 344,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,645,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $129,028,000 after buying an additional 47,141 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,711,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,477. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.72 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $72.47 and its 200-day moving average is $69.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.69%.

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.