Greenleaf Trust Has $313,000 Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Greenleaf Trust reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 706 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $724,971,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,412,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,307,000 after purchasing an additional 246,578 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677,233 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127,335 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.8%

JEF opened at $54.69 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.28 and a twelve month high of $82.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 1.46.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 60.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

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.