Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on JEF. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $60.00 to $57.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $47.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.52. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week high of $71.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.69.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.9% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 182,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,143,000 after purchasing an additional 10,264 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 77.3% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 68,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,427,000 after purchasing an additional 29,899 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 617,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,844,000 after buying an additional 2,799 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 84.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 5,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Jefferies Financial Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Jefferies Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and said Jefferies could benefit from a revival in mergers and acquisitions, although it lowered its price target to $76 from $83. A stronger M&A environment could support Jefferies’ investment-banking revenue. Jefferies Financial Group Seen Benefiting From M&A Revival
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies is serving as a joint book-running manager for Electra Therapeutics’ upsized $350 million IPO. The mandate highlights continued equity-capital-markets activity and could generate underwriting fees, though the financial impact on JEF is likely modest. Electra Therapeutics IPO

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc (NYSE:JEF) is a diversified financial services company that provides investment banking, capital markets, asset management and wealth management services. Its principal operating business, Jefferies, advises companies, governments and institutional investors on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, restructuring and other strategic transactions.

Through its investment banking and securities operations, Jefferies offers equity and fixed-income underwriting, sales and trading, research, prime brokerage and related services.