Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 12,169 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 496,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,169 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $30,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 232.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 280,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,174,000 after buying an additional 195,902 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 29,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 5,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,987,000 after purchasing an additional 344,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,144,592.54. The trade was a 24.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the purchase, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at $551,773,323.27. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 over the last three months. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. 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 raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.2 %

JEF opened at $80.90 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.95 and a twelve month high of $81.92. The stock has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.83%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company 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.