Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Sets New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $49.27 and last traded at $48.91, with a volume of 199645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.01.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on JEF shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.56 and a 200 day moving average of $42.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth $267,000. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 65,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 19,430 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $404,000. Algebris UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,154,000. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 90,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,000 after buying an additional 8,907 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.