Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 245.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 651,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 462,546 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.32% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $42,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Jefferies Financial Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Jefferies Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies issued a public response defending its position, saying the loan in question was non?recourse, was diligenced by the bank, and that the Point Bonita fund acted in good faith — a statement that could limit perceived legal exposure or calm some investors. Jefferies Comments on Western Alliance Bank Lawsuit
• Neutral Sentiment: PhysicsWallah will join a Jefferies?led investor meeting on March 12 — a routine investor relations/deal engagement that is unlikely to move JEF shares materially but shows ongoing capital?markets activity. PhysicsWallah to Join Jefferies-Led Investor Meet on March 12
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary assessing JEF valuation after the recent share weakness highlights that analyst targets remain well above current levels — useful context for longer?term investors but secondary to the immediate legal headlines. Assessing Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) Valuation After Recent Share Price Weakness
• Negative Sentiment: Western Alliance sued Jefferies after recording a ~$126M charge?off tied to a loan collateralized by receivables from First Brands; the suit alleges Jefferies declined payment under a forbearance arrangement — this legal claim is the primary near?term catalyst driving the stock decline and higher trading volume. $126M Payment Dispute Sparks Western Alliance Lawsuit Against Jefferies
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP opened an investor investigation into Jefferies — a potential class?action inquiry that can increase legal costs, create settlement risk, and sustain negative headlines even if the underlying exposure is limited. Pomerantz Investigates Jefferies Investors

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $38.22 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $38.17 and a one year high of $71.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 6.56%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.54%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.