Man Group plc Decreases Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Man Group plc reduced its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 89.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 80,912 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $124,035,000 after purchasing an additional 232,237 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $788,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,569,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.4%

JEF stock traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.06. 775,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,619,128. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.28 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $48.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.53. The company has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.47.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.75.

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.