Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Acquired by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,236,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,920 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,435,000. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.5% in the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 842,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,877,000 after acquiring an additional 86,898 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 234,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,462,000 after acquiring an additional 77,131 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 26.4% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 120,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,397,000 after acquiring an additional 25,040 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF opened at $41.03 on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.81 and a twelve month high of $47.39. The stock has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.75 and its 200-day moving average is $38.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

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.