Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Has $35.87 Million Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 578,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,047 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group comprises about 5.3% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. owned 0.28% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $35,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of JEF stock opened at $52.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.25 and its 200-day moving average is $53.08. The stock has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74 and a beta of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.14.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.