Redwood Investment Management LLC Has $1.83 Million Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Redwood Investment Management LLC cut its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 71.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,734 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,035,000 after purchasing an additional 232,237 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $788,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,569,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF stock opened at $53.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.03 and a 200-day moving average of $65.49. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on JEF. Oppenheimer downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.