Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,757 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JEF. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $607,163,000 after purchasing an additional 233,844 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,152,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,972,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,753,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,997,000 after buying an additional 52,336 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,662,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,478,000 after buying an additional 382,838 shares during 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 buying an additional 2,223,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

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

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JEF. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.