Caprock Group LLC Takes $226,000 Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $1,779,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $294,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,446,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 37.0% during the first quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 156,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,911,000 after purchasing an additional 42,323 shares during the period. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $582,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $78.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58 and a beta of 1.31. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.34 and a 12-month high of $78.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.91.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The business’s revenue was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 560,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,451,790.19. This trade represents a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 over the last ninety days. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.