Analysts Set Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Price Target at $62.62

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.6250.

Several brokerages have commented on JEF. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 132,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,196,000 after purchasing an additional 64,682 shares during the period. Check Capital Management Inc. CA acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,041,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,941,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,895,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $897,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $56.37 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $55.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.56. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $35.53 and a one year high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.