OFI Invest Asset Management Invests $574,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JEF. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $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 worth $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,905,000 after buying an additional 490,389 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $35,122,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 780,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,063,000 after buying an additional 381,893 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 2.6 %

JEF stock opened at $56.24 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.72 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

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.