Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Buys New Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired 9,468 shares of Jefferies Financial Group, valued at approximately $507,000, highlighting increasing institutional interest in the company.
• Jefferies Financial Group reported a quarterly earnings miss, with $0.40 EPS against an expected $0.44, leading to a year-over-year revenue decline of 1.3%.
• The company's dividend yield stands at 2.5% with a recent quarterly payout of $0.40, indicating a stable approach to returning value to shareholders despite earnings challenges.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Elequin Capital LP increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% during the first quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 193.8% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 87.9% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.50.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of JEF stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.66. 890,731 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,261,232. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 1.49.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%.The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.38%.

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.