KBC Group NV Decreases Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 673 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.05% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $8,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $75.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.58 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.10.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 560,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,451,790.19. This trade represents a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.