Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Decreases Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,048,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 382,816 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 0.99% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $160,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,476,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,179 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,987,000 after buying an additional 344,409 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,645,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,028,000 after buying an additional 47,141 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 4.0 %

NYSE:JEF opened at $52.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.72 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.47.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.69%.

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.