Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 51.5% to 66,936 shares during the first quarter.
• Jefferies Financial Group reported a earnings miss for the quarter with $0.40 EPS, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44.
• The company plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, reflecting a 2.4% yield based on its annualized dividend of $1.60.

Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 51.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 71,070 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 8,229 shares in the last quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $2,467,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $262,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $462,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $66.66 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.28 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.51. The firm has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 1.49.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%.The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 report on Monday, September 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.50.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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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