Equitable Trust Co. Decreases Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. sold 5,485 shares of Jefferies Financial Group, reducing its stake by 38.9%, resulting in ownership of 8,600 shares worth approximately $461,000.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Jefferies, with one downgrade to "sell," while others maintain "hold" and "buy" ratings, leading to a consensus price target of $66.00.
• Jefferies recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.40 per share, missing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, reflecting a 2.78% dividend yield.

Equitable Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 38.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,485 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 193.8% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 87.9% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 105.5% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 824.0% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JEF. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.07. The company had a trading volume of 331,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,832,177. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.14. The company has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 1.46. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%. The business's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 60.38%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.