Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Given New $57.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $60.00 to $57.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price suggests a potential upside of 5.68% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on JEF. Weiss Ratings lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.88.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $53.94 on Friday. 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 has a 12-month low of $35.53 and a 12-month high of $71.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $54.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 77.6% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 665.4% in the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc (NYSE:JEF) is a diversified financial services company that provides investment banking, capital markets, asset management and wealth management services. Its principal operating business, Jefferies, advises companies, governments and institutional investors on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, restructuring and other strategic transactions.

Through its investment banking and securities operations, Jefferies offers equity and fixed-income underwriting, sales and trading, research, prime brokerage and related services.