Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Separately, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $43.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.70 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.30. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $28.81 and a fifty-two week high of $47.39.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. HMS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.7% during the first quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.