Simmons Bank Makes New Investment in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Simmons Bank acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.78. 287,042 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,040,761. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30 and a beta of 1.36. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.33 and a twelve month high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.