New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 3,881 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,881 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JEF. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 4,349 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $396,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 102.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,050 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,534.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 120,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,386,000 after purchasing an additional 112,666 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE JEF traded down $2.45 on Wednesday, reaching $69.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,586,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,634,761. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31 and a beta of 1.34. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.67 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $76.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.92.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

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.