Whitener Capital Management Inc. Has $439,000 Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JEF. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $286,476,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,905,000 after buying an additional 490,389 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,998,000 after acquiring an additional 389,385 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the sale, the president now owns 560,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $75.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.77 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $77.44 and a 200-day moving average of $65.63.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.