Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $56.86

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.86.

JEF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JEF. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 77.6% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 665.4% during the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 300.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 2.3%

Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $44.90 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.57. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $35.53 and a fifty-two week high of $66.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.84%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides investment banking, capital markets, asset management and other financial services to corporations, institutional investors, governments and individual clients. Its principal operating business is Jefferies Group, an investment banking and securities firm.

Jefferies provides advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and other strategic transactions, along with equity and debt underwriting, sales and trading, research, prime brokerage and securities services.