Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Invests $771,000 in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 24,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 62.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.80% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $36.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.34 and a 1 year high of $40.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.13. The firm has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.22). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.23% and a net margin of 9.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “conviction-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Chairman Joseph S. Steinberg sold 134,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.79, for a total transaction of $4,803,626.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 15,744,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,484,345.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Joseph S. Steinberg sold 225,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.87, for a total value of $8,081,905.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 16,225,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $582,004,559.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Joseph S. Steinberg sold 134,217 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.79, for a total transaction of $4,803,626.43. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,744,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $563,484,345.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 578,320 shares of company stock worth $20,948,017. Company insiders own 20.10% of the company’s stock.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc engages in the investment banking and capital markets, and asset management businesses in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. 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, restructurings or recapitalizations and private capital advisory transactions; equity and debt underwriting; and corporate lending.