Valueworks LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 369,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $18,445,000. Jefferies Financial Group comprises about 3.8% of Valueworks LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Valueworks LLC owned about 0.19% of Jefferies Financial Group as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $834,947,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $246,167,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211,375 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $211,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984,055 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $127,242,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $145,584,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.
Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance
NYSE JEF opened at $52.95 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.59 and a 200 day moving average of $50.77.
Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 44.69%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JEF. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.62.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Jefferies Financial Group
Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile
(
Free Report)
Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.
In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.
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