Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Lowers Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,004 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. owned about 0.13% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $14,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,594,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $52.94 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.26% and a net margin of 9.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The company's revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.36%.

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.

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