Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Bought by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by an astonishing 9,866% during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 208,090 shares worth around $11.15 million.
• Jefferies Financial Group's recent earnings report indicated $0.40 EPS, missing analysts' expectations of $0.44, with a slight 1.3% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The firm has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, representing a yield of 2.5%, with a payout ratio of 60.38%.

Amundi boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 9,866.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 206,002 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.10% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $11,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FJ Capital Management LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 30,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,912 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,321,000. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $16,389,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 278.9% during the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 10,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. 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 research report on Thursday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.50.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:JEF traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.66. The company had a trading volume of 890,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,261,232. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.38%.

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.