Kera Capital Partners Inc. Raises Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,249 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group makes up about 1.0% of Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Kera Capital Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $6,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JEF. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.4% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. SLT Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth $265,000. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% in the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 32,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 75,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,939,000 after buying an additional 6,212 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $62.04 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 1.51. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $78.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.13. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Zacks Research lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.