Rhumbline Advisers Has $24.39 Million Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 455,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,655 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.22% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $24,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 161.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 346.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 652 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 758.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 738 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,433,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,655,708. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The business's 50 day moving average price is $47.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.25. The stock has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 1.45. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.