Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Sells 5,546 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. trimmed its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,546 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. owned 0.05% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $5,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 57,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,636,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $55.91. The company had a trading volume of 278,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,691,096. The company has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.67. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.28 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The firm 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 6.62% and a net margin of 7.70%. The business's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 60.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Jefferies Financial Group 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.