Kera Capital Partners Inc. Buys New Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 39,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,061,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position 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 valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 560,507 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE JEF opened at $75.74 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.44 and a 200-day moving average of $65.74. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.77 and a 1-year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company 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 7.97% 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

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.