Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,588,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 115,323 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.77% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $86,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 8,229 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 29.3% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 45,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,443,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $54.42 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Wall Street Zen raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

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.