Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Director Sells $2,960,034.00 in Stock

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $64.26 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.75 and a 52-week high of $67.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.69. The company has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.46 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.