Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 672 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $70,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,144,592.54. This represents a 24.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 over the last three months. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE JEF opened at $80.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.95 and a fifty-two week high of $81.92. The stock has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.58 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.24.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

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.