Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Buys 373,000 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 87.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 798,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 373,000 shares during the quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. owned 0.39% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $42,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 193.8% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 105.5% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted 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 valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 824.0% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE JEF traded down $0.05 on Friday, reaching $56.27. 777,224 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,692,073. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $11.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 1.46. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $53.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.34. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.38%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.