Lake Street Private Wealth LLC Invests $216,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Lake Street Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $286,476,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,905,000 after purchasing an additional 490,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,998,000 after purchasing an additional 389,385 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $75.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.77 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $77.44 and its 200-day moving average is $65.74. The firm has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.97%. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $16,125,655.20. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,632,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,424,460.40. This trade represents a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.