SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,595 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3,577.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 28.7% in the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 1,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Key Jefferies Financial Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Jefferies Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies’ latest reported quarter (early January) beat EPS and revenue estimates, showing modest revenue growth and above‑consensus EPS — a reminder of operating strength and earnings execution that supports the stock’s valuation and investor confidence.
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood removed a 10% Bitcoin allocation from his “Greed & Fear” model portfolio—citing quantum‑computing risks—and shifted exposure to physical gold and gold miners. This is a high‑profile research call that may affect client perception of Jefferies’ macro/crypto views, but it is a research product move rather than a balance‑sheet event. Jefferies Abandons Bitcoin (TipRanks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies power & utilities analyst Julien Dumoulin Smith discussed outcomes from the PJM power auction on television — visibility into the firm’s sector expertise can bolster its research franchise, but the segment commentary itself is unlikely to move JEF’s fundamentals materially. PJM power auction interview (YouTube)
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies analysts raised their price target on Nvidia (NVDA), showcasing the firm’s active and visible equity research — positive for Jefferies’ research reputation and potential trading/LP flows, but indirect for JEF’s own earnings unless sustained trading revenue follows. NVDA price target lift (24/7 Wall St.)
• Negative Sentiment: Kaplan Fox has opened an investigation into Jefferies Financial Group for potential securities‑law violations. External investigations raise legal and reputational risk, can be a drag on investor sentiment, and may increase potential liabilities or compliance costs if escalated — a probable driver of the stock’s weak tone. Kaplan Fox investigation (The Globe & Mail)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $63.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.54. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $78.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.13. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.54%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.