Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Trims Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH decreased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,776 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after acquiring an additional 21,667 shares in the last quarter. Condor Capital Management increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 111.7% in the second quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 47,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after buying an additional 25,276 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 41,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares during the period. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $378,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 73,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,022,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $55.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 2.6%

JEF stock opened at $56.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.10. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.22. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 7.40%.The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.