WR Wealth Planners LLC Makes New Investment in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

WR Wealth Planners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 9,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $707,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF stock opened at $66.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $74.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.72 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

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.