GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Makes New $462,000 Investment in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 105.5% during 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 period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of JEF traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.90. 766,664 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,696,588. The company has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47 and a beta of 1.46. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.70%. Jefferies Financial Group's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. 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.