Simmons Bank Has $680,000 Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Simmons Bank raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 758.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,070,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 365,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,687,000 after acquiring an additional 104,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $283,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $65.80 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.77 and a 200-day moving average of $69.32. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.72 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08 and a beta of 1.34.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

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.