Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 1,790 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,790 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $78.58 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.58 and a beta of 1.31. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.34 and a 52-week high of $78.74.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.