Ervin Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Ervin Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 148.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 52,335 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for 3.1% of Ervin Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Ervin Investment Management LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 285.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11,895.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 61,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,303,000 after purchasing an additional 61,145 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 60,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,166 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 110.8% during the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 82,311 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 43,269 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 105.5% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE:JEF traded up $0.91 on Tuesday, hitting $49.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,625,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,632,255. 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 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.93 and its 200 day moving average is $63.76. The company has a market cap of $10.16 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 55.36%.

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.