Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 102.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth about $386,000. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 41,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 26,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 23.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 41,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,848,000 after purchasing an additional 7,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 511,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,575,000 after purchasing an additional 13,567 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $64.57 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.79. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67 and a beta of 1.32. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.38 and a 12-month high of $67.79.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,144,592.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 604,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,144,592.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.