47,300 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 47,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,911,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.7% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 175.7% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,753,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,422. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.81 and a 1-year high of $47.39. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.95.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 98.36%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.