Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 447,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $35,122,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Jefferies Financial Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on JEF. Morgan Stanley cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.77. 1,346,095 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,579,329. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.29. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The company's 50-day moving average is $56.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.