Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Acquires New Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired 2.55 million Jefferies Financial Group shares worth approximately $127.2 million, giving the fund a 1.31% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 60.88% of JEF.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $62.62. Recent targets range from $50 to $83.
• Jefferies reported quarterly revenue growth of 35% year over year but missed earnings expectations, posting $1.02 EPS versus the $1.16 consensus. The company also authorized a $250 million share repurchase program and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.40.

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,545,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $127,242,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 1.31% of Jefferies Financial Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JEF. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $834,947,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $246,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211,375 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,812,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 454,054 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $211,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,942,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $182,390,000 after acquiring an additional 24,171 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.0%

JEF stock opened at $52.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $55.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.93. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.53 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 1.54.

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

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.69%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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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