Arnhold LLC Reduces Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Arnhold LLC cut its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 79,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,357 shares during the quarter. Arnhold LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $6,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JEF. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677,233 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094,191 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,179 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,335 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE JEF opened at $46.69 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 1.29. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.36%.

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.