Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Receives $72.71 Average Target Price from Brokerages

by · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF – Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.7143.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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 report on Tuesday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Zacks Research cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th.

Get Our Latest Analysis on JEF

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $62.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92 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. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $78.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.42.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 7.31%. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% in the 2nd 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 period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 15,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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