Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by Mutual of America Capital Management LLC

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,766 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 45,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,505,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% during the first quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.6% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 5,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.5% during the first quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 8,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $55.01 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.32. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.22. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on JEF. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.83.

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.