Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Purchased by Poehling Capital Management INC.

Poehling Capital Management INC. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 4.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 124,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,577 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for 1.6% of Poehling Capital Management INC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Poehling Capital Management INC.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $6,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 21,667 shares during the last quarter. Condor Capital Management increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 111.7% in the second quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 47,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,620,000 after buying an additional 25,276 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 41,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after buying an additional 2,946 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $378,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 73,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,022,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $55.42 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.27 and a 200-day moving average of $56.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.28 and a twelve month high of $82.68.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.98%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.