Gabelli Funds LLC Decreases Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6%, owning 129,410 shares after selling 6,300 shares in the first quarter.
• Jefferies Financial Group's quarterly earnings missed expectations with an EPS of $0.40, below the consensus estimate of $0.44, and revenue decreased 1.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, yielding 2.4%, to be paid on August 29th, with an ex-dividend date of August 18th.

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 129,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,300 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.06% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $6,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,412,167 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $343,307,000 after buying an additional 246,578 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,126,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $274,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,822 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 135.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,805,897 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $141,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,785 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $124,035,000 after purchasing an additional 232,237 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth approximately $58,972,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE JEF traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $63.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 737,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,020. The company has a market capitalization of $13.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $58.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.66.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.