Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by CI Investments Inc.

Key Points

• CI Investments Inc. cut its Jefferies Financial Group stake by 86.2% in the first quarter, selling 535,234 shares and leaving it with 85,677 shares valued at about $3.54 million.
• Jefferies reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, missing estimates of $1.16, while revenue came in at $2.21 billion versus $2.30 billion expected; revenue still rose 35% year over year.
• The company authorized a $250 million share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

CI Investments Inc. decreased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 86.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 535,234 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.'s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $246,167,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211,375 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $211,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984,055 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,584,000. Munro Partners acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,470,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 740.1% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,094,164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,156,000 after purchasing an additional 963,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.5%

JEF stock opened at $55.65 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The company has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 44.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Jefferies Financial Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.62.

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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