GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 158.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 315 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 8,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE JEF opened at $70.94 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.77 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $77.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.17.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 53.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total transaction of $16,125,655.20. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 1,632,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,424,460.40. This trade represents a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

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.