New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 4,700 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 209,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.10% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $16,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 55,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,375,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 4.0 %

NYSE JEF traded down $2.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $66.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,146,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,272. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $76.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.93. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.71 and a twelve month high of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 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.