Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.1429.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $52.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65 and a beta of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.15.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 6.61%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Nvwm LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.