Arnhold LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Arnhold LLC significantly cut its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by selling 71,820 shares, decreasing its holdings by 90% to just 8,000 shares valued at $429,000.
• Analysts provided mixed ratings for Jefferies Financial Group, with Goldman Sachs raising the price target to $62.00 while others like Wall Street Zen lowered their rating to "sell."
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40, set to yield 2.7%, with a payout ratio of 60.38%.

Arnhold LLC lessened its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 90.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 71,820 shares during the quarter. Arnhold LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Elequin Capital LP increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% in the 1st quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 193.8% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of JEF stock traded up $0.48 on Wednesday, reaching $64.55. 509,623 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,788,327. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business's 50 day moving average price is $57.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.96. The company has a market capitalization of $13.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36 and a beta of 1.48. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.28 and a twelve month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 60.38%.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.