Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 498,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $27,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 30.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,126,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,627,000 after buying an additional 1,184,822 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,972,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,808,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,723,000 after acquiring an additional 819,594 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,990,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,374,000 after acquiring an additional 578,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $21,893,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE JEF opened at $53.00 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.89. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 1.51.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 7.40%.The business’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.83.

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.