VestGen Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

VestGen Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 20.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,826 shares during the period. VestGen Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 45,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE JEF opened at $56.91 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56 and a beta of 1.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its 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. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 7.40%.The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. 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 report on Monday, November 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.83.

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.