Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $3.96 Million Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,690 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $43.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.17 and a 200-day moving average of $67.32. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 1.29. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st.

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.