M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $16,125,655.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 1,632,277 shares in the company, valued at $106,424,460.40. The trade was a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:JEF opened at $75.74 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.77 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.84.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.