Sanctuary Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,065 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $286,476,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,799,000 after purchasing an additional 936,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,148,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JEF. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed 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.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $75.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a PE ratio of 32.16 and a beta of 1.35. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.37 and a 1 year high of $82.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.03.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,144,592.54. This represents a 24.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 in the last three months. 20.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.