Sanctuary Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,065 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $286,476,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,799,000 after purchasing an additional 936,424 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,148,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:JEF opened at $75.26 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.37 and a 12-month high of $82.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.03. The firm has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.16 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s 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.