State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $2.64 Million Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 48,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 45,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,505,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% during the first quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.6% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 5,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.5% during the first quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 8,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of JEF opened at $55.52 on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.84.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.22. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.98%.

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.