Carlson Capital Management Makes New $246,000 Investment in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Carlson Capital Management purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after buying an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $58,211,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,799,000 after acquiring an additional 936,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $21,148,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $551,773,323.27. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total transaction of $16,125,655.20. Following the sale, the president now owns 1,632,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,424,460.40. The trade was a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.80. 295,291 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,267,508. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.34 and a twelve month high of $80.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.