Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Short Interest Update

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, an increase of 23.0% from the March 15th total of 2,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JEF shares. StockNews.com cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,346,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,579,329. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52 week low of $39.28 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.60.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.