Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have $21.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $17.00.
A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. TheStreet raised Jefferies Financial Group from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Investment Research lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. ValuEngine lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.00.
Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $17.80 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.49. The company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.44. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12 month low of $11.20 and a 12 month high of $24.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.
Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Monday, June 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $844.30 million. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.86% and a net margin of 10.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 45.45%.
In related news, President Brian P. Friedman acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.27 per share, for a total transaction of $81,350.00. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 14.80% of the company’s stock.
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Mercantile Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 15,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 37,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 170,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Elgethun Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 151,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. 70.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Jefferies Financial Group
Jefferies Financial Group Inc, a financial services company, engages in investment banking and capital markets, asset management, and direct investing businesses in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. the company also offers equities research, sales, and trading services; equity finance services comprising financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services; and wealth management services to high net worth individuals, their families and businesses, private equity and venture funds, and small institutions.
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