Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.75.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $58.96 on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $35.53 and a one year high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.01.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Nvwm LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.