Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 37,003 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Janus Henderson Group PLC trimmed its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 475,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 37,003 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.23% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $37,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $124,035,000 after buying an additional 232,237 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,569,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of JEF traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,500,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,099. The company's 50-day moving average is $50.00 and its 200-day moving average is $65.41. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70 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 (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors 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 (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.