Oppenheimer Increases Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target to $57.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price objective hoisted by Oppenheimer from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $44.96 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $31.12 and a 52-week high of $47.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of 36.85 and a beta of 1.33.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The company’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.30, for a total value of $2,546,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 2,591,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,979,505. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 88.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,113,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,601,000 after buying an additional 2,876,529 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $88,852,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 100.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,290,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,282,000 after purchasing an additional 646,666 shares during the period. Strs Ohio increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,126.9% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 587,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,737,000 after purchasing an additional 539,534 shares during the period. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,272,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,231,000 after purchasing an additional 510,125 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.