Summit Global Investments Makes New Investment in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in 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 during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $71,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $45.64 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.41 and a beta of 1.36. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.33 and a 12 month high of $47.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.72.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend 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.