Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price target on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF opened at $62.37 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.41.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.22. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 7.40%.The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.0% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 100,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,487,000 after buying an additional 2,951 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 230.1% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 126,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,971,000 after buying an additional 87,841 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 40.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 3,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.1% during the second quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 9,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.