Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $64.84 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.03. The stock has a market cap of $13.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47 and a beta of 1.48. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Elequin Capital LP lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 117.9% during the 1st quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 193.8% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 3,577.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.