First Pacific Advisors LP Sells 220,675 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

First Pacific Advisors LP lessened its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,580,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 220,675 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group comprises about 2.2% of First Pacific Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. First Pacific Advisors LP owned approximately 1.25% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $138,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.64. The stock had a trading volume of 886,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,527,563. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's fifty day moving average is $53.38 and its 200 day moving average is $57.54. 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 (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced 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 analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 60.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

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.