Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.1429.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of JEF opened at $47.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $35.53 and a 12-month high of $71.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.74.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.