Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP lessened its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 10.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 765 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Elequin Capital LP boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% during the 1st quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 87.9% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $78,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 824.0% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $56.77 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.62.

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, 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 business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.98%.

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.