Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Position Cut by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 26.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,669 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $81,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 105.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $57.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.72. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.38 and a 52 week high of $59.97. The stock has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 1.32.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st.

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.