Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Purchased by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 39.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 230,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,524 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $9,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.7% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 175.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $44.16 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.73. The company has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.81 and a 1-year high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 98.36%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.