Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 82.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 110,096 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $724,971,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $421,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094,191 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 15,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 110.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,933,000 after purchasing an additional 140,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on JEF. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF traded up $1.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.36. 919,753 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,577,602. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.32.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.36%.

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.