Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Sets New 1-Year High at $59.45

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $59.45 and last traded at $59.19, with a volume of 29145 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on JEF shares. StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $53.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.17.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 88.9% during 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 stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,852,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $58,211,000. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $132,231,000 after purchasing an additional 510,125 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.