Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 2,780 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF – Get Rating) by 8.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,780 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 73.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 135.4% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 12,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 7,412 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,456,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $118,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 695.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 209,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,773,000 after acquiring an additional 182,730 shares in the last quarter. 66.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $30.48 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.88 and a 1-year high of $40.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.42.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 12.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 39.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on JEF shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.75.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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Jefferies Financial Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. The Investment Banking and Capital Markets segment provides investment banking, capital markets, and other related services.