SMH Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 452 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

SMH Capital Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 452 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group comprises about 1.0% of SMH Capital Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. SMH Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.9% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 59,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,386,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $60.77 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.38 and a 52-week high of $62.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.20. The stock has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.57 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.