Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.75.

JEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $58.96 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 1.54. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $35.53 and a 12-month high of $71.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.01.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.