Brokerages Set Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Target Price at $72.00

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 3.4%

JEF opened at $59.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 1.51. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12 month low of $39.28 and a 12 month high of $82.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 8,229 shares during the last quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $2,467,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $262,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $462,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.