447,990 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 447,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $35,122,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Jefferies Financial Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded up $1.78 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.36. 919,753 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,577,602. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.32. 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 issued its 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). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.