328,279 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Purchased by Robotti Robert

Key Points

• Robotti Robert purchased 328,279 shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter, valued at approximately $16.4 million. The position represented 2.6% of the fund’s portfolio and 0.17% of Jefferies’ outstanding shares.
• Institutional ownership remains significant at 60.88%, with BlackRock, Alyeska Investment Group, Eminence Capital and AQR Capital among funds reporting notable holdings or increases.
• Jefferies reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, below the $1.16 analyst consensus, despite revenue growing 35% year over year to $2.21 billion. The company also authorized a $250 million share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, representing a 3.0% annualized yield.

Robotti Robert purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 328,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,407,000. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for about 2.6% of Robotti Robert's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Robotti Robert owned 0.17% of Jefferies Financial Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $834,947,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $246,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211,375 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,812,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 454,054 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $211,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984,055 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,942,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $182,390,000 after purchasing an additional 24,171 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of JEF stock opened at $53.84 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $55.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.53 and a 1-year high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.

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