Jefferies Financial Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:JEF)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 4,246 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 413% compared to the average volume of 827 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $48.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.41 and its 200 day moving average is $42.79. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1 year low of $31.38 and a 1 year high of $49.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.30, for a total transaction of $2,546,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 2,591,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,979,505. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,405,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,046,000 after purchasing an additional 51,633 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,236,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,802,000 after buying an additional 1,406,920 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $2,435,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $5,419,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $1,638,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.