Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Trims Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,048,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 382,816 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $160,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 4.0 %

NYSE JEF opened at $52.17 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.72 and a one year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.47.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th.

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.