Brokerages Set Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Target Price at $60.75

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.3750.

Several brokerages recently commented on JEF. Zacks Research raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $76.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $72.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $62.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.19. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52 week low of $35.53 and a 52 week high of $71.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 6.61%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 245.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 651,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,603,000 after purchasing an additional 462,546 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 132,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,196,000 after purchasing an additional 64,682 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 147,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,848,000 after purchasing an additional 31,288 shares during the period. Check Capital Management Inc. CA bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,041,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 284.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 226,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,835,000 after purchasing an additional 167,817 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.