Amalgamated Bank Has $4.33 Million Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 13.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,891 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.4% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 34,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 61.8% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 50,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 19,110 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 10.1% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 27,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,080,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $62.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29 and a beta of 1.32. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.38 and a fifty-two week 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. 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 firm posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors 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 2.26%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the purchase, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at $551,773,323.27. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.