Carmel Capital Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Carmel Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,165 shares during the quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 687.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 11,901 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 13.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price target on 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 5.8%

Shares of JEF opened at $51.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $62.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.20. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 1.51.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 7.40%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.98%.

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.