Focus Partners Wealth Cuts Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 31.9%, selling 85,661 shares and retaining a total of 182,681 shares worth approximately $9.79 million.
• Jefferies Financial Group's stock has recently seen price target adjustments, with Morgan Stanley raising their target from $54.00 to $72.00, while Zacks upgraded the rating from "strong sell" to "hold."
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.40, missing estimates by $0.04, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, reflecting a 2.4% dividend yield.

Focus Partners Wealth lessened its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 31.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 182,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 85,661 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth owned about 0.09% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $9,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 38.6% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 8,229 shares during the last quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth approximately $2,467,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $262,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.50.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:JEF opened at $66.66 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.58.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 60.38%.

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.

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