Entropy Technologies LP Has $5.15 Million Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 360.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,664 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP owned approximately 0.06% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $5,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 132,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,196,000 after purchasing an additional 64,682 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 147,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,848,000 after buying an additional 31,288 shares in the last quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,041,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $2,941,000. Finally, Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,895,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $55.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.54. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.53 and a 52 week high of $71.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.07.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.62.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.