Summit Global Investments Invests $231,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $45.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.41 and a beta of 1.36. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.33 and a 12 month high of $47.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 20.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.