Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Invests $32,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $286,476,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,892,000 after buying an additional 1,529,218 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $21,148,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,998,000 after acquiring an additional 389,385 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $76.22 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.58 and a 1 year high of $82.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.35. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.83%.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president now owns 604,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,144,592.54. This trade represents a 24.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on JEF. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

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.