Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $3.57 Million Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,202 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $294,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $582,000. Comerica Bank raised its position 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 worth $3,971,000 after purchasing an additional 8,907 shares in the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $2,154,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $404,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of JEF opened at $79.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.15. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.34 and a 52-week high of $80.30.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

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.