Advisory Services Network LLC Invests $259,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,153,000 after purchasing an additional 167,270 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $788,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 284 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 topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.4 %

JEF stock opened at $42.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.57. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.29.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.