104,868 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Purchased by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 104,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,455,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% in the third 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 during the period. United Services Automobile Association lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total transaction of $28,391,461.49. Following the transaction, the president now owns 560,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,451,790.19. This trade represents a 41.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $81.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.60. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.95 and a 1-year high of $82.04.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders 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 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company.

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.