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

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC decreased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,048,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 382,816 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned approximately 0.99% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $160,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 161.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 346.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 652 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $49.32. The stock had a trading volume of 219,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,616,944. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.53. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 1.47.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.75.

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.