Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Buys Shares of 71,260 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking opened a new position in Jefferies Financial Group, buying 71,260 shares worth about $2.94 million in the first quarter.
• Jefferies recently reported Q1 earnings that missed expectations, posting $1.02 EPS on $2.21 billion in revenue versus estimates of $1.16 EPS and $2.30 billion in revenue, though revenue still rose 35% year over year.
• The company’s board authorized a $250 million share repurchase plan and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, implying a 3.0% yield.

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 71,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,941,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $246,167,000 after buying an additional 3,211,375 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,812,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 454,054 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $211,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984,055 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,942,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $182,390,000 after acquiring an additional 24,171 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,607,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $161,595,000 after acquiring an additional 29,092 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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 report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $52.62 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $53.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.92.

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

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.