Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $757,000 Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 614 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $286,476,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,153,000 after buying an additional 167,270 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,987,000 after acquiring an additional 344,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,645,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,028,000 after acquiring an additional 47,141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $62.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.72 and a one year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.