Banque Pictet & Cie SA Buys Shares of 11,498 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,498 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 105.5% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 824.0% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on 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. Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.8%

JEF stock traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $54.69. 1,333,375 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,698,038. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.45 and a 200-day moving average of $59.14. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 1.46.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 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.