Edgestream Partners L.P. Decreases Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lowered its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,505 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of JEF opened at $79.14 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.05 and a 52-week high of $80.53. The company has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 59.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This trade represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following 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. 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 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.