Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Receives $62.62 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.6250.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on JEF shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Nvwm LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $55.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.67. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $35.53 and a 12-month high of $71.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.