5,394 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Purchased by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 5,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,799,000 after buying an additional 936,424 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,232,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,591,000 after acquiring an additional 76,327 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,998,000 after acquiring an additional 389,385 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,168,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,925,000 after acquiring an additional 34,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This trade represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 in the last ninety days. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE JEF opened at $78.58 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.34 and a 12 month high of $78.74. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.76.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

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.