Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on JEF. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, October 17th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.83.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

JEF stock opened at $56.85 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.50 and a 200-day moving average of $57.22. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.22. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.2% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 81.3% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 80.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 7,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 3,223 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 58,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,843,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prana Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 26.7% in the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 92,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,031,000 after buying an additional 19,413 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.