Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Has $431,000 Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,482,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $607,163,000 after buying an additional 233,844 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 44.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,152,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,972,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207,065 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,753,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,997,000 after acquiring an additional 52,336 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.7% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,662,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,478,000 after acquiring an additional 382,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 201.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,328,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,350,000 after acquiring an additional 2,223,630 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $41.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.75 and a 200-day moving average of $38.92. The company has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $28.81 and a one year high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued 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 2.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.