Epacria Capital Partners LLC Sells 53,300 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Epacria Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 53,300 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group comprises approximately 2.3% of Epacria Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Epacria Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 10.3% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 29,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares during the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $246,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 3,877 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 507.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 132,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,111,000 after buying an additional 110,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total transaction of $28,391,461.49. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 560,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,451,790.19. This trade represents a 41.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $78.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.34 and a 52 week high of $80.53. The firm has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $67.39 and its 200-day moving average is $57.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

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.