StockNews.com Downgrades Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $41.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $28.81 and a 52-week high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 944,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,184,000 after acquiring an additional 3,995 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $1,080,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 105.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 249.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 21,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 15,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 78,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.