Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Takes $237,000 Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth $286,476,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677,233 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,179 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,905,000 after acquiring an additional 490,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,520,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 13.1 %

NYSE:JEF opened at $47.93 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.72 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

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.