71,260 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Acquired by Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 71,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,941,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $224,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $3,325,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 226,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,798,000 after purchasing an additional 17,935 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of JEF opened at $52.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 1.54. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.53 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The business 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 company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.