SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 687.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,901 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 161.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 575 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 346.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 652 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 758.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 738 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock traded up $1.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,380,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,687,931. The stock has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company's 50 day moving average price is $49.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.12. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 7.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JEF. Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $41.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.25.

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.