U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 44,468 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 44,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,486,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $286,476,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,153,000 after acquiring an additional 167,270 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,987,000 after acquiring an additional 344,409 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,394,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,353,000 after purchasing an additional 118,886 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the transaction, the president now owns 560,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 20.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $76.92 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.72 and a 200-day moving average of $67.47. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.58 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81 and a beta of 1.34.

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 7.92% 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, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.98%.

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.