Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Sells 2,000 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lessened its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 52,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $286,476,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,153,000 after buying an additional 167,270 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,987,000 after buying an additional 344,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,645,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,028,000 after buying an additional 47,141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $54.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.72 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.41. 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 (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on JEF shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

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.