Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Acquires 65,000 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Lee Danner & Bass Inc. increased its Jefferies Financial Group stake by 77.6% in the first quarter, buying 65,000 additional shares and bringing its total to 148,811 shares worth about $6.14 million.
• Jefferies reported Q2 earnings of $1.02 per share, missing analyst expectations of $1.16, while revenue came in at $2.21 billion versus the $2.30 billion forecast. Revenue still rose 35% year over year.
• The company’s board approved a $250 million share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.0%.

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 77.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 148,811 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. owned about 0.07% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $6,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $246,167,000 after buying an additional 3,211,375 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,812,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 454,054 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $211,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984,055 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,942,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $182,390,000 after acquiring an additional 24,171 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,607,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $161,595,000 after acquiring an additional 29,092 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of JEF stock opened at $52.62 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $53.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.92. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.53 and a 1-year high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.

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