Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,073,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,093.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,829,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $67,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,549 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 100.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,290,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,282,000 after acquiring an additional 646,666 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 80.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,265,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,337,000 after acquiring an additional 562,810 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,002,626 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,726,000 after acquiring an additional 13,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.5% during the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 842,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,877,000 after purchasing an additional 86,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.0 %

JEF stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,516,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,073,375. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.04 and a 200-day moving average of $39.21. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $28.81 and a one year high of $47.39. The stock has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.