Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP decreased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 67.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 450,043 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 944,762 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned about 0.22% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $24,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 193.8% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 161.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 346.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 652 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 758.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 738 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.9%

JEF stock traded down $1.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $54.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,252,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,694,093. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 1.45.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.70%. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.36%.

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.