Greenleaf Trust Buys 179 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth $286,476,000. FMR LLC raised 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 worth $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,153,000 after buying an additional 167,270 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,394,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,353,000 after buying an additional 118,886 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $74.78 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.76. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.58 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The stock has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09 and a beta of 1.34.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

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.