Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Bought by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,990,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 578,013 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for approximately 0.6% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $388,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,901 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 15,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 4.1%

JEF opened at $50.85 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.98%.

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.