Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Purchased by Gradient Investments LLC

Key Points

• Gradient Investments increased its Jefferies Financial Group stake by 13.8% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 351,573 shares valued at approximately $16.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 60.88% of JEF.
• Analysts have lowered several price targets, with the stock receiving a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target of $56.86. Targets range from $50 to $71, despite ratings that include two Buys and five Holds.
• Jefferies reported quarterly earnings of $1.08 per share, above the $1.00 estimate, while revenue rose 8.5% year over year to $2.22 billion. The company also declared a $0.40 quarterly dividend and authorized a $250 million share-repurchase program.

Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 351,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 42,679 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $16,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $3,509,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 378.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 228,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,407,000 after purchasing an additional 180,553 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,471,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $21,669,000. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,941,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.86.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $44.36 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $51.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.41. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week high of $66.60. The firm has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.08. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 7.50%.The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 43.84%.

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

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides investment banking, capital markets, asset management and other financial services to corporations, institutional investors, governments and individual clients. Its principal operating business is Jefferies Group, an investment banking and securities firm.

Jefferies provides advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and other strategic transactions, along with equity and debt underwriting, sales and trading, research, prime brokerage and securities services.

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