Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Sold by CI Investments Inc.

CI Investments Inc. cut its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 86.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 535,234 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 15,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 5,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $55.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.04. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.