Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Stake Cut by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon trimmed its Jefferies Financial Group stake by 1.7% in the first quarter, though it still held 1.4 million shares valued at about $58 million. Overall, institutional investors continue to own a majority of JEF, at 60.88% of the company.
• Jefferies reported Q2 earnings of $1.02 per share, missing analyst estimates of $1.16, while revenue came in at $2.21 billion versus expectations of $2.30 billion. Despite the miss, revenue was up 35% year over year.
• The company authorized a $250 million share repurchase program and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a target price of $62.62.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,404,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,183 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.69% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $57,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $244,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $301,000. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth $301,000. Check Capital Management Inc. CA increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 50.3% in the first quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA now owns 680,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,071,000 after acquiring an additional 227,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.5%

JEF opened at $55.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.00 and a 200-day moving average of $52.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 1.54. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.53 and a 1-year high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The company's revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on JEF. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced 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 note on Thursday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.62.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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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