Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases Shares of 72,287 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 72,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,983,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 622 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $55.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.62. The firm has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on JEF shares. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer decreased 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, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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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