Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) is Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 567,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,948 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group accounts for 4.8% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $22,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 8,645 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 10,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 25,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,126.9% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 587,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,737,000 after buying an additional 539,534 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 9,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of JEF traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $41.22. 727,255 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,050,465. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $42.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.92. The company has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.81 and a 12 month high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on JEF. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

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.