Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 197.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,484 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.75. 1,500,153 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,602,343. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $50.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. 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.