Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $10.13 Million Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 69.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 557,403 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $10,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% during the fourth 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. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.2 %

JEF opened at $46.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.20. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.33 and a twelve month high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 98.36%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.