State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 204,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System owned 0.10% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $11,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position 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 worth $388,374,000 after acquiring an additional 578,013 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $5,469,000. FORA Capital LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 328.4% in the first quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 44,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,396,000 after purchasing an additional 34,282 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $610,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 161.9% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after buying an additional 17,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $56.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.19. 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 stock has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.98%.

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.