Lafayette Investments Inc. Sells 38,359 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 21.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,858 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 38,359 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group makes up approximately 1.6% of Lafayette Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $7,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,594,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE JEF opened at $56.19 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 1.45.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 yield of 2.85%. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 55.36%.

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.

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