Fulton Bank N.A. Purchases New Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 14,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 66.6% during the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 159,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,939,000 after acquiring an additional 63,766 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $267,000. Finally, PGGM Investments grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 41.8% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 65,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 19,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.30, for a total value of $2,546,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 2,591,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,979,505. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:JEF traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 237,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,140,083. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.25 and a 200-day moving average of $45.71. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.38 and a 1 year high of $59.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on JEF. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

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.