Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 71,881 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,598,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 71,881 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $98,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total transaction of $16,125,655.20. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 1,632,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,424,460.40. This represents a 13.16 % 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 worth $88,999,151. 20.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on JEF shares. 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. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped 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 report on Thursday, November 14th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $76.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $72.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.58 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.83%.

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.