Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 4,846 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,846 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $7,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 161.4% during 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. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,070,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 758.1% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 738 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF stock opened at $56.19 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.28 and a twelve month high of $82.68. The firm has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 1.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $50.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 6.62%. Jefferies Financial Group's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio 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.

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