Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Trims Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 13.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,431 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. owned 0.07% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $7,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 34,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,739,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 423,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,166,000 after purchasing an additional 27,228 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,446,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 228.1% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 375,531 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,442,000 after purchasing an additional 261,061 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $0.83 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.00. 1,075,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,693,152. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $53.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.87. The company has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51 and a beta of 1.46. 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 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 60.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.