Mattson Financial Services LLC Increases Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 297.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,071 shares during the period. Mattson Financial Services LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $3,892,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 954,291 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,137,000 after acquiring an additional 324,515 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 103.3% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 17,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 8,678 shares during the period. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $346,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 3.0%

JEF opened at $59.66 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.53 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.01 and a 200 day moving average of $53.08.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The company's revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.75.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JEF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.