VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Purchases New Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 3,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hemington Wealth Management increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $58.44 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.49. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.72 and a twelve month high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 announced its earnings results 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend 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.