Richard B. Handler Sells 400,000 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stock

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 11.1 %

Shares of JEF stock traded up $7.18 on Wednesday, reaching $72.00. 4,530,549 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,294,611. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.16 and a 52 week high of $72.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77 and a beta of 1.31.

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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in 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 buying an additional 936,424 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,232,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,591,000 after purchasing an additional 76,327 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,998,000 after acquiring an additional 389,385 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,168,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,925,000 after buying an additional 34,295 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,529,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.