Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys 54,753 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 142.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,753 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211,375 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,812,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 454,054 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984,055 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,942,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,390,000 after purchasing an additional 24,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,607,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,595,000 after purchasing an additional 29,092 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF traded down $1.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $53.55. 395,691 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,665,838. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.