Boston Partners Sells 4,244 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Boston Partners has reduced its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8%, now owning approximately 0.07% of the company, valued at about $7.84 million.
• Various investors, including JCIC Asset Management and Sierra Ocean LLC, increased their stakes in Jefferies Financial Group significantly during the first quarter, with some increases exceeding 800%.
• Goldman Sachs raised its price target for Jefferies Financial Group from $55 to $62 while other analysts have set mixed ratings, resulting in an average target price of $66.

Boston Partners lessened its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 146,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,244 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.07% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $7,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 38.6% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,583,000 after buying an additional 8,229 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $124,035,000 after buying an additional 232,237 shares during the last quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,467,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF traded down $0.3240 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.7060. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,267,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,811,030. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The firm has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53 and a beta of 1.48. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $56.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.41.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.38%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.