California Public Employees Retirement System Has $10.99 Million Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 266,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,530 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $10,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $251,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth $244,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $301,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $301,000. Finally, Check Capital Management Inc. CA increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA now owns 680,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,071,000 after purchasing an additional 227,684 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on JEF. Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $55.87 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.07 and a 200-day moving average of $52.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.53 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The firm has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.