Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Receives $57.14 Average Target Price from Analysts

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.1429.

JEF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the 4th 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 acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $41.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.52. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1-year low of $35.53 and a 1-year high of $71.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.86% and a net margin of 6.61%.The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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 Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.05%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.