Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,871 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 193.8% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 105.5% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 824.0% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF opened at $57.55 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.28 and a twelve month high of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 1.48. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $54.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.46.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.

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