Altshuler Shaham Ltd Invests $47,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 102,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE JEF traded up $0.09 on Thursday, reaching $45.93. The stock had a trading volume of 728,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,043,058. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.33 and a 1 year high of $47.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57 and a beta of 1.36.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.