Huntington National Bank Raises Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 14,055.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $78,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,386.7% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 141,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,064,000 after buying an additional 132,414 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $726,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,718,000. Seven Eight Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 199.1% in the 1st quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 27,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 18,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,534.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 120,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,386,000 after purchasing an additional 112,666 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total transaction of $28,391,461.49. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 560,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 in the last quarter. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of JEF opened at $73.84 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.34 and a 12-month high of $75.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $64.74 and its 200 day moving average is $56.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

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.