Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $3.96 Million Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,690 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,153,000 after acquiring an additional 167,270 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $788,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $46.72. The stock had a trading volume of 316,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,110. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $53.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 1.29.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

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.