Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

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

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

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $43.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.36. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $28.81 and a 12-month high of $47.39.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.36%.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,236,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,920 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,435,000. Hosking Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 842,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,877,000 after acquiring an additional 86,898 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 234,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,462,000 after acquiring an additional 77,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 120,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,397,000 after acquiring an additional 25,040 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.