Munro Partners Invests $60.47 Million in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Munro Partners acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 975,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $60,470,000. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for 1.6% of Munro Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Munro Partners owned about 0.47% of Jefferies Financial Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Nvwm LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of JEF opened at $61.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.16. The firm has a market cap of $12.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on JEF shares. Loop Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $72.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. 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 note on Tuesday, June 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.38.

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.