Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $30.96 Million Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 503,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 91,205 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.24% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $30,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,799,000 after buying an additional 936,424 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,232,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,591,000 after acquiring an additional 76,327 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,998,000 after purchasing an additional 389,385 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,168,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,925,000 after purchasing an additional 34,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151. 20.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $79.48 on Tuesday. 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 $34.34 and a 52 week high of $80.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a PE ratio of 33.97 and a beta of 1.31.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.