Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $88,852,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 78,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 262,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,603,000 after purchasing an additional 86,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 102,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,149,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $62.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $57.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.56. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.38 and a 52-week high of $62.67.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at $551,773,323.27. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on JEF shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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 raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the 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.