Analysts Set Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Target Price at $72.71

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.7143.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JEF. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $60.00 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 1.50. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $74.74.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.13. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 6.56%.The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 56.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $107,356,000. Eminence Capital LP increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 129.7% in the 3rd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,358,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $219,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,896,547 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 6,056.0% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 949,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,905,000 after acquiring an additional 933,653 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2,644.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 839,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,037,000 after purchasing an additional 809,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $49,783,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.