Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Key Points

• Artemis Investment Management cut its stake in Jefferies by 58.6% in Q4, selling 1,395,476 shares and leaving 984,103 shares (about 0.48% of the company) worth roughly $60.99 million.
• Jefferies missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.70 versus the $0.89 consensus while revenue was $2.02 billion (in line with estimates) and rose 26.6% year‑over‑year.
• The company declared a $0.40 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.60, ~3.2% yield) and the MarketBeat consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $58.14; the stock trades in a 52‑week range of $35.53–$71.04.

Artemis Investment Management LLP cut its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 58.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 984,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,395,476 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned about 0.48% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $60,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Eminence Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 129.7% in the 3rd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,358,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $219,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,547 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2,644.1% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 839,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,037,000 after purchasing an additional 809,115 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,783,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,395,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,481,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,952,000 after purchasing an additional 532,923 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JEF. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.14.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $49.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.26. The company has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.

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