Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of JEF traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $53.58. 3,612,564 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,493,679. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52 week low of $40.72 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.53.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677,233 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094,191 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.