Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 4,549 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,549 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $111,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $149,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE JEF opened at $43.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.24. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $28.81 and a one year high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

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.