Edgestream Partners L.P. Increases Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 65.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,119 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $6,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $407,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 70.8% in the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 19,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 8,074 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 46,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,718,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 74.9% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 24,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 10,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $57.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.56. The company has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.72 and a 12 month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

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.