Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Acquired by Prana Capital Management LP

Prana Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 198.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,023 shares during the quarter. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,218 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $58,211,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,799,000 after acquiring an additional 936,424 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $21,148,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total transaction of $28,391,461.49. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 560,507 shares in the company, valued at $40,451,790.19. This represents a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on 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 Trading Down 0.3 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $77.95 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.07 and a 12 month high of $80.53. The stock has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.31 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.83%.

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.