LMR Partners LLP Boosts Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

LMR Partners LLP grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 354.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,624 shares during the quarter. LMR Partners LLP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,035,000 after purchasing an additional 232,237 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $788,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $2,569,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $54.47 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market cap of $11.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28 and a beta of 1.47. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during 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%. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

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.