Kwmg LLC Has $1.14 Million Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Kwmg LLC reduced its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the period. Kwmg LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 8,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of JEF traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $70.94. 3,022,422 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,510,420. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 1.35. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.77 and a 52 week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 positive change 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 dividend yield of 2.26%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group began coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,431,026.25. This trade represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.