Lafayette Investments Inc. Trims Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,195 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for about 1.9% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Lafayette Investments Inc. owned 0.09% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $7,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JEF. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 102,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,754,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.51. 647,850 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,045,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.81 and a 52-week high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The company’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.36%.

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.