Intech Investment Management LLC Buys 124,853 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 63.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 320,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 124,853 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $17,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,808,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,723,000 after purchasing an additional 819,594 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,412,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,307,000 after purchasing an additional 246,578 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 30.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,126,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,627,000 after buying an additional 1,184,822 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $58,972,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 87.8% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 798,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,749,000 after buying an additional 373,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $64.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29 and a beta of 1.49. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.50.

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.