Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.7143.

Several brokerages have commented on JEF. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $58.87 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $77.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.63 and its 200-day moving average is $60.08.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 6.56%.Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.54%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.