Norges Bank Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,349,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $145,584,000. Norges Bank owned 1.14% of Jefferies Financial Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Nvwm LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.14.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE:JEF opened at $52.85 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.93.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.