Strs Ohio Has $227,000 Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Strs Ohio lowered its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 98.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 234,493 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $227,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 206,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,792,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $278,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 52,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $248,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 816.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 28,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 25,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of JEF opened at $52.32 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.53 and a 12-month high of $71.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 1.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.14.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.