Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Makes New $2.15 Million Investment in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 42,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. CX Institutional increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 77.6% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $52.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 1.54. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.53 and a 1-year high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.84.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.