Shelton Wealth Management LLC Sells 16,281 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Shelton Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 70.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,281 shares during the quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $246,167,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211,375 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984,055 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $145,584,000. Eminence Capital LP raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 129.7% during the third quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,358,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $219,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Munro Partners purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $60,470,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE JEF traded down $1.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $53.42. The stock had a trading volume of 311,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,664,892. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $35.53 and a one year high of $71.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.