Kwmg LLC Cuts Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Kwmg LLC cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the quarter. Kwmg LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 5,890 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $2,124,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $4,386,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $262,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,451,790.19. This represents a 41.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $70.94. 3,022,422 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,510,420. The firm has a market cap of $14.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.02. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.77 and a 52 week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

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.