Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Invests $850,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $850,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $224,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,325,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 226,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,798,000 after purchasing an additional 17,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $52.51 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.62.

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.