Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Stake Decreased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Jefferies Financial Group stake by 49.8% in the third quarter, selling 511,586 shares and retaining 516,185 shares valued at approximately $23.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 60.88% of JEF.
• Analysts lowered their price targets, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target of $56.86. JEF recently opened at $44.79, compared with a 52-week range of $35.53 to $66.60.
• Jefferies authorized a $250 million share-repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% annualized yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 49.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 516,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 511,586 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.27% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $23,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $834,947,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,666,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $110,015,000 after purchasing an additional 58,585 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $127,242,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $107,044,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $79,537,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.86.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $44.79 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business's 50 day moving average price is $50.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.61. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $66.60.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 43.84%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides investment banking, capital markets, asset management and other financial services to corporations, institutional investors, governments and individual clients. Its principal operating business is Jefferies Group, an investment banking and securities firm.

Jefferies provides advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and other strategic transactions, along with equity and debt underwriting, sales and trading, research, prime brokerage and securities services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.