United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CX Institutional grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 77.6% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 665.4% during the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.1%

JEF opened at $52.51 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.20 and a 200 day moving average price 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 company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.69%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.