Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) PT Raised to $56.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price objective increased by Oppenheimer from $54.00 to $56.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE JEF traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.86. The company had a trading volume of 698,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,053,890. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.55. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 36.77 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Jefferies Financial Group has a twelve month low of $28.81 and a twelve month high of $47.39.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 88.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,113,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,601,000 after buying an additional 2,876,529 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $88,852,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 100.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,290,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,282,000 after buying an additional 646,666 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 80.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,265,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,337,000 after buying an additional 562,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,126.9% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 587,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,737,000 after acquiring an additional 539,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.