Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Holdings Cut by Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC

Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,401 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for about 1.9% of Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $70,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the transaction, 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 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $76.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.58 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted 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 7.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

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.