Strs Ohio Takes Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 408,681 shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc., valued at approximately $21.9 million, representing about 0.20% of the company's stock.
• Jefferies Financial Group reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' estimates of $0.44, with a revenue of $1.63 billion, down 1.3% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, resulting in an annualized payout of $1.60 and a yield of 2.4%.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 408,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $21,893,000. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.20% of Jefferies Financial Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Elequin Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% in the first quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 193.8% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 123.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 87.9% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $78,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.8%

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $66.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.66. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 1.49.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%.The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.50.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

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.

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