Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires 15,985 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 56.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,985 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 48.8% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3,577.8% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on JEF. Zacks Research cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $61.81 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.19 and its 200 day moving average is $59.94. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $77.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.54%.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.