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

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEFGet Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.6250.

A number of brokerages recently commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $60.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 8th.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $52.35 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $35.53 and a one year high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEFGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 44.69%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $834,947,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 422.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,972,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,167,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211,375 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 696.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,412,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984,055 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $127,242,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $145,584,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF)

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