New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 20,000 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $10,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677,233 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094,191 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,335 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $56.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47 and a beta of 1.46. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.62%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.00.

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.