Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,666,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 58,585 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.30% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $110,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JEF. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,211,375 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $211,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984,055 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $145,584,000. Munro Partners bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,470,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 740.1% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,094,164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,156,000 after purchasing an additional 963,917 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.7%

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $57.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The company has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Two equities research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

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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