Moerus Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Moerus Capital Management increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.4% in Q1, buying 167,347 additional shares and bringing its total to 777,068 shares worth about $32.1 million.
• Jefferies reported mixed quarterly results, with earnings per share of $1.02 missing estimates and revenue of $2.21 billion coming in below expectations, though revenue still rose 35% year over year.
• The company authorized a $250 million share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

Moerus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 27.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 777,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 167,347 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for approximately 11.8% of Moerus Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Moerus Capital Management LLC owned 0.38% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $32,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Nvwm LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on JEF. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of JEF stock opened at $55.65 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $55.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.69%.

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.

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