Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) CEO Richard B. Handler Sells 1,500,000 Shares

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $43.56 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.81 and a fifty-two week high of $47.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,236,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,920 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,435,000. Hosking Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 842,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,877,000 after acquiring an additional 86,898 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 234,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,462,000 after purchasing an additional 77,131 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 120,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,397,000 after purchasing an additional 25,040 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.33.

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.