The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target to $57.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price target reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $67.00 to $57.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

JEF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.86.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:JEF opened at $45.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $35.53 and a one year high of $66.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.15.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.08. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.50% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.84%.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,264 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 77.3% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 68,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,427,000 after buying an additional 29,899 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 84.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 5,341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Key Jefferies Financial Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies reported record fiscal third-quarter investment-banking and equities results, supported by stronger mergers and acquisitions activity and equity issuance. The performance indicates a broader recovery in Wall Street dealmaking, although the benefit was partly offset by weaker asset management and fixed income. Jefferies Q3 IB, Equities Offset Weak Asset Management and Fixed Income
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, payable November 25, reinforcing shareholder returns and providing some support for the stock’s investment case. Jefferies Financial Group to Issue Quarterly Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of the quarterly results highlighted a mixed earnings composition: record investment banking revenue points to improving deal activity, but the uneven contribution from asset management and fixed income limits confidence in the durability of earnings growth. What Jefferies’ Q3 Result Says About Wall Street’s Investment Banking Recovery
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have turned more cautious. Morgan Stanley reduced its price target to $49 from $50 while maintaining an Equalweight rating, signaling limited near-term upside. Morgan Stanley Adjusts Price Target on Jefferies Financial
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets also cut its price target for Jefferies, adding to valuation pressure and reinforcing concerns that the stock’s recent earnings strength may not fully offset weaker business segments. Jefferies Financial Group Stock Price Target Cut by BMO Capital Markets
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs issued a pessimistic forecast for JEF, while commentary following the results identified persistent asset-management challenges as a drag on earnings and investor sentiment. Goldman Sachs Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Jefferies Financial Group

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.