Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Stake Cut by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP reduced its Jefferies Financial Group stake by 70.8% in the first quarter, selling 428,268 shares and retaining 177,049 shares valued at approximately $7.3 million.
• Jefferies reported quarterly revenue of $2.21 billion, up 35% year over year, but earnings of $1.02 per share fell short of analysts’ $1.16 estimate. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $62.62.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, representing a 2.9% yield, and authorized a $250 million share-buyback program covering up to 2% of outstanding shares.

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 70.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,049 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 428,268 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.09% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $7,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF opened at $54.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.45 and a 200-day moving average of $51.79. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a 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 on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group has an average 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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