American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 42.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 221,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,962 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.11% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $11,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,799,000 after acquiring an additional 936,424 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,852,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,168,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,925,000 after acquiring an additional 34,295 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,707,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,298,000 after acquiring an additional 199,662 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $58,211,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $62.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29 and a beta of 1.32. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.38 and a 12 month high of $62.67.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at $551,773,323.27. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.