CIBC Asset Management Inc Grows Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.9% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $76.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.81 and a beta of 1.31. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.34 and a 1 year high of $77.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the transaction, the president now owns 560,507 shares in the company, valued at $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.