Amalgamated Bank Sells 11,609 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,609 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank owned 0.05% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $4,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 41.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 157,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,752,000 after acquiring an additional 45,686 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 16.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 27,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 3,787 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,093.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,829,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,342,000 after purchasing an additional 4,264 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $45.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.41 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.91. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $29.33 and a one year high of $47.39.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 98.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was 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 owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

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.