Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $535,000. Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $637,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 502,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,940,000 after buying an additional 52,761 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $1,655,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $60.32 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 1.48.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%. The company 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 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.38%.

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.