Strs Ohio Acquires 539,534 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1,126.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 587,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 539,534 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.28% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $23,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 56.7% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 175.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $41.30 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.81 and a 1-year high of $47.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS 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 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.33.

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.