Swiss National Bank Sells 17,700 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 303,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.15% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $23,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,476,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 167,270 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 344,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,645,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $129,028,000 after purchasing an additional 47,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.46. 1,907,305 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,420,364. The business's 50-day moving average price is $68.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.72 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company's revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.