Trivest Advisors Ltd Purchases New Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 178,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,005,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.4 %

JEF opened at $58.44 on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.72 and a twelve month high of $82.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.13 and a 200-day moving average of $69.49. The stock has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase 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 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.