Creekside Partners Invests $241,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Creekside Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $551,773,323.27. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 604,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,144,592.54. The trade was a 24.86 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $74.95 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.39. The company has a market cap of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03 and a beta of 1.31. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.34 and a fifty-two week high of $75.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on JEF shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target 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.

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.