Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Decreases Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI cut its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 547,160 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 118,536 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned approximately 0.27% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $42,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 432,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,884,000 after purchasing an additional 151,400 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 655,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,403,000 after purchasing an additional 57,964 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 392.1% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 16,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of JEF traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,918,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,622,191. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.84. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 1.47.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen cut 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 price objective 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 cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.75.

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.