ClearAlpha Technologies LP Reduces Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

ClearAlpha Technologies LP reduced its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,760 shares during the period. ClearAlpha Technologies LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 90,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,000 after buying an additional 8,907 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $267,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $726,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $79.14 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.05 and a twelve month high of $80.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 59.83%.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This trade represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 over the last ninety days. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.