Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Has $160.56 Million Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,048,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 382,816 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 0.99% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $160,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $469,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677,233 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $421,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094,191 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $415,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127,335 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 2.7%

JEF traded up $1.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,695,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,865,688. The company has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.47. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $49.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company's revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

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.