Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Moerus Capital Management LLC

Moerus Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 34.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 640,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 343,084 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for approximately 18.3% of Moerus Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Moerus Capital Management LLC owned 0.31% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $50,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 110.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,933,000 after buying an additional 140,037 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 320,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,124,000 after acquiring an additional 42,821 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 660,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,555,126. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 1.29. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68.

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 company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.