Ieq Capital LLC Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 305,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,262,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. CX Institutional grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 77.6% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 665.4% in the 1st quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $52.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid 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 3.1%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.