Wall Street Zen Upgrades Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) to Buy

by · The Cerbat Gem

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF – Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.75.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.1%

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $47.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.99 and its 200-day moving average is $50.72. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.52.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.97 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.9% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 182,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,143,000 after acquiring an additional 10,264 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 77.3% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 68,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,427,000 after purchasing an additional 29,899 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 25.2% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 617,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,844,000 after buying an additional 2,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 84.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 5,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Jefferies Financial Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Jefferies Financial Group this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and said Jefferies could benefit from a revival in mergers and acquisitions, although it lowered its price target to $76 from $83. A stronger M&A environment could support Jefferies’ investment-banking revenue. Jefferies Financial Group Seen Benefiting From M&A Revival
  • Positive Sentiment: Jefferies is serving as a joint book-running manager for Electra Therapeutics’ upsized $350 million IPO. The mandate highlights continued equity-capital-markets activity and could generate underwriting fees, though the financial impact on JEF is likely modest. Electra Therapeutics IPO

About Jefferies Financial Group

(Get Free Report)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc (NYSE:JEF) is a diversified financial services company that provides investment banking, capital markets, asset management and wealth management services. Its principal operating business, Jefferies, advises companies, governments and institutional investors on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, restructuring and other strategic transactions.

Through its investment banking and securities operations, Jefferies offers equity and fixed-income underwriting, sales and trading, research, prime brokerage and related services.

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