Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Purchased by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 10.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,762 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on JEF. UBS Group started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $79.14 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82 and a beta of 1.31. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.05 and a 1-year high of $80.53. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.99.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business’s revenue was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $12,618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,144,592.54. The trade was a 24.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at $551,773,323.27. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 in the last three months. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.