Insider Selling: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) CEO Sells 1,500,000 Shares of Stock

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.0 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,516,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,073,375. The stock has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.81 and a 1 year high of $47.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.04 and a 200 day moving average of $39.21.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 98.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. HMS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 48,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $266,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 283,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,501,000 after buying an additional 49,325 shares during the period. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 26,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.