Cinctive Capital Management LP Sells 151,634 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Cinctive Capital Management LP lessened its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 68.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 151,634 shares during the quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $5,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $286,476,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,153,000 after purchasing an additional 167,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $788,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 3.2 %

JEF opened at $55.24 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.40. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.72 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The stock has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.