SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 158.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,667 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,990,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,374,000 after acquiring an additional 578,013 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $5,469,000. FORA Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 328.4% during the first quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 44,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,396,000 after purchasing an additional 34,282 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $610,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 17,486 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of JEF opened at $54.81 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.88. The company has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.22. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.98%.

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.