Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 400,912 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 401,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 400,912 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $21,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 687.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $730,000 after buying an additional 11,901 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 47.2% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 41,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 13,195 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 8,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 59,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,191,000 after buying an additional 3,771 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $53.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.19 and its 200 day moving average is $62.58. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on JEF shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.75.

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.