Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. reduced its Jefferies Financial Group stake by 12.4%, selling 121,511 shares and retaining 860,887 shares valued at approximately $35.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 60.88% of the company.
• Jefferies reported quarterly earnings of $1.02 per share, below the $1.16 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 35% year over year to $2.21 billion. The company also authorized a $250 million share-buyback program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on JEF, with an average price target of $62.62 versus the stock’s reported price of $55.87.

Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 860,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 121,511 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.42% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $35,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 132,263 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,196,000 after purchasing an additional 64,682 shares in the last quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,041,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $2,941,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,895,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $897,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:JEF opened at $55.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $55.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.98. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.53 and a 12-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.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding 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 generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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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