Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,881 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 4,349 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $218,000. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $396,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 102.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,534.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 120,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,386,000 after acquiring an additional 112,666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $71.45 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98 and a beta of 1.34. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.67 and a 52-week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

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.