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

Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,498 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 147,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,556,000 after acquiring an additional 57,799 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $250,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $2,569,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of JEF stock traded up $1.18 on Monday, reaching $55.87. 3,840,757 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,707,332. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 1.46. The business's 50 day moving average price is $52.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.86.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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 downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.