Kera Capital Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 39,042 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 39,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,061,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $75.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.77 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $77.44 and a 200 day moving average of $65.74.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 10.57%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

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.