Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Lowers Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI has reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 22.4%, owning 424,434 shares after selling 122,726 shares, which amounts to approximately $22.7 million.
• Analysts have varying ratings on Jefferies Financial Group, with Goldman Sachs raising the target price from $55 to $62 and Morgan Stanley increasing theirs from $54 to $72.
• Jefferies Financial Group reported $0.40 EPS for the latest quarter, below the expected $0.44 EPS, with quarterly revenue of $1.63 billion, slightly under analyst estimates.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lowered its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 424,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 122,726 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned 0.21% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $22,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 30.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,126,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $274,627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,822 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,972,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 13.7% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,808,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $364,723,000 after acquiring an additional 819,594 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 87.8% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 798,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,749,000 after acquiring an additional 373,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $16,389,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of JEF traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.66. The stock had a trading volume of 890,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,261,232. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $13.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 1.49.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.50.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.