Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

JEF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.67.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $69.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.37 and a 200-day moving average of $54.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30 and a beta of 1.49. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.59% and a net margin of 7.70%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 60.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $107,356,000. Eminence Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $79,958,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,126,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,822 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,972,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $51,905,000 after purchasing an additional 933,653 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.