Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,720,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 335,588 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $134,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $313,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 507.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 132,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,111,000 after buying an additional 110,922 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 29,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $52.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.72 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.56.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.