Carnegie Investment Counsel Purchases 511 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth approximately $262,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 86.6% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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 report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $56.77 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.28 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.68. The company has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.98%.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.