7,861 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Acquired by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677,233 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at about $286,476,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,029,000 after buying an additional 1,437,179 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% during 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. increased its stake 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 valued at $129,028,000 after acquiring an additional 47,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $55.24 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.72 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.16 and a 200-day moving average of $69.40. The company has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.36%.

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.