Carlson Capital Management Purchases Shares of 4,000 Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Carlson Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $78.80. The stock had a trading volume of 295,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,267,508. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.34 and a twelve month high of $80.30. The company has a market cap of $16.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $66.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.15.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The company’s revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group 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 value of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.