Thoma Capital Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Thoma Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 14,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,130,000. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for about 0.8% of Thoma Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position 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 worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on JEF shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, April 7th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF stock traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $48.56. 1,513,520 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,628,181. The company has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $48.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.26.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

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.