Maven Securities LTD Purchases Shares of 5,200 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Maven Securities LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,035,000 after purchasing an additional 232,237 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $788,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,569,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:JEF opened at $54.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28 and a beta of 1.47. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.28 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

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.