Private Management Group Inc. Lowers Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Key Points

• Private Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. by 3.8%, owning 649,540 shares after selling 25,472 shares in the first quarter.
• Jefferies Financial Group reported quarterly earnings of $0.40 per share, missing estimates of $0.44, along with a revenue of $1.63 billion.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, with a dividend yield of 2.80%, set to be paid on August 29th to stockholders of record on August 18th.

Private Management Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 649,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,472 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for approximately 1.3% of Private Management Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Private Management Group Inc. owned 0.31% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $34,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 38.6% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 8,229 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $124,035,000 after acquiring an additional 232,237 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,467,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $57.63. 253,949 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,834,709. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73 and a beta of 1.46. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $53.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.13.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's 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.