Secure Asset Management LLC Takes $696,000 Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Secure Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,001 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JEF. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.1% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 15,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 114,500.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares in the last quarter. Ervin Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 148.9% during the 1st quarter. Ervin Investment Management LLC now owns 87,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,687,000 after acquiring an additional 52,335 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 285.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 11,895.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 61,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,303,000 after acquiring an additional 61,145 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of NYSE JEF traded up $1.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $50.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,874,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,647,747. The business's 50 day moving average is $47.77 and its 200-day moving average is $63.56. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.45.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.75.

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.