Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $53.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.49. The company has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 1.47. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,035,000 after purchasing an additional 232,237 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $788,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $2,569,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.