Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Separately, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $43.56 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1 year low of $28.81 and a 1 year high of $47.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.70 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.30.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 16.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.7% during the first quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.0% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.