Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF Holdings Cut by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 266,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,530 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.13% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $10,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $55.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.54. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.53 and a 1-year high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JEF. UBS Group reduced their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.