Signaturefd LLC Sells 252 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Signaturefd LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 252 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $59.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.72 and a 52-week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 53.69%.

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.