Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Short Interest Up 27.9% in January

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,989,828 shares, a growth of 27.9% from the December 31st total of 3,901,029 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,515,713 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 2,515,713 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Boston Common Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at $4,011,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 927.8% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 23,474 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 50,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,301,000 after acquiring an additional 21,085 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,990,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,374,000 after purchasing an additional 578,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brian Low Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth $1,358,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:JEF traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $60.35. 2,896,371 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,920,440. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $77.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33 and a beta of 1.50.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 6.56%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on JEF. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.71.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.