Sei Investments Co. Raises Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 423,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,228 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $33,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $62.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.72 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $67.88 and its 200 day moving average is $69.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.