Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 3,898 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,898 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 88.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,113,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,876,529 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $88,852,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth $58,211,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth $21,148,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,707,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,298,000 after purchasing an additional 199,662 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $551,773,323.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of several research reports. 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 note on Tuesday, July 23rd. 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 target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $62.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.56. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.38 and a 1 year high of $62.67. 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 $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29 and a beta of 1.32.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

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.