Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stake Increased by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 1,126.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 587,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 539,534 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.28% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $23,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 23.8% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,911,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 356,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,401,000 after purchasing an additional 30,539 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 476.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 196,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,943,000 after purchasing an additional 162,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $331,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE JEF traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $41.03. 629,565 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,054,894. The business's fifty day moving average price is $42.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.81 and a fifty-two week high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. 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 prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.36%.

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.