Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Purchased by Harbour Capital Advisors LLC

Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,890 shares during the quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % 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 247,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total transaction of $16,125,655.20. Following the sale, the president now owns 1,632,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,424,460.40. This represents a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151 over the last three months. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE JEF traded down $0.66 on Monday, reaching $70.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,985,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,415,119. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.02. The stock has a market cap of $14.55 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.77 and a twelve month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the 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.