Duality Advisers LP Takes $3.52 Million Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 87,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,518,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,236,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $130,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,920 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $2,435,000. Hosking Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 842,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,877,000 after acquiring an additional 86,898 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 234,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,462,000 after acquiring an additional 77,131 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 120,035 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,397,000 after acquiring an additional 25,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,159,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,055,763. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.81 and a twelve month high of $47.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.33.

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.