Northern Trust Corp Decreases Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.9%, now owning approximately $83.12 million worth of 1,551,611 shares.
• Jefferies Financial Group's stock price increased by 5.7% recently, with a current market capitalization of $12.90 billion.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.6%, with a payout ratio of 60.38%.

Northern Trust Corp decreased its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,551,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,464 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.75% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $83,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JEF. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,295,000. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 173.1% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,713 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 11,226 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $309,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 187.2% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 29,392 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 19,157 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:JEF traded up $0.75 on Thursday, reaching $65.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,270,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,652. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.03. The firm has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.38%.

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.