Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target Cut to $54.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $55.00 to $54.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on JEF. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:JEF opened at $56.19 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The firm has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.89.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,582,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,035,000 after purchasing an additional 232,237 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,569,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.