Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 73,047 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. has increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.2%, now owning approximately 0.23% of the company valued at about $25.95 million.
• Jefferies Financial Group recently reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, falling short of analyst expectations of $0.44, with a 1.3% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 60.38%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 18.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 474,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 73,047 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.23% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $25,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Elequin Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% in the 1st quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $78,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JEF shares. Wall Street Zen raised Jefferies Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.67.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $69.70. 1,365,056 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,526,461. The company has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.37 and a 200 day moving average of $54.82.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.