3,420 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Bought by VSM Wealth Advisory LLC

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the third 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 period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $58.44 on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.72 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.49.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

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.