PGGM Investments Acquires 7,519 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,519 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $320,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,073,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $331,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 476.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 196,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,943,000 after purchasing an additional 162,442 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on JEF shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $57.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 324,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,151,471. The company has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.38 and a fifty-two week high of $59.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.39 and a 200-day moving average of $46.28.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

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.