Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $49.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on JEF. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.57.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of JEF stock opened at $38.10 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.84. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1-year low of $35.72 and a 1-year high of $71.04.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 56.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 15,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.2% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Jefferies Financial Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Jefferies Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies says its exposure to UK mortgage lender MFS will be small — management expects a hit of less than $20 million, limiting potential capital and earnings impact. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing strength in Jefferies’ research franchise: Jefferies analysts initiated coverage on Uno Minda (Buy, target Rs 1,350) and maintained Buy ratings/targets on companies such as Thales, Constellation Software and Haleon — these actions support recurring advisory/research revenue and signal stable client activity. Uno Minda article Thales article Constellation article Haleon article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies has publicly defended itself against the Western Alliance lawsuit — a necessary step but it leaves outcome uncertainty; the firm’s comments may reduce some investor fear if they are persuasive. Defense article
• Negative Sentiment: Western Alliance filed a $126.4M lawsuit tied to a loan connected to bankrupt First Brands, alleging breach and fraud — this prompted immediate market selling and raises litigation, potential indemnity or reserve risk. Zacks article
• Negative Sentiment: Kaplan Fox launched an investigation into potential securities-law violations at Jefferies — a separate regulatory/legal overhang that can increase legal costs, management distraction and investor uncertainty. Kaplan Fox article
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley downgraded JEF from Overweight to Equal Weight and set a $49 price target — a high-profile analyst downgrade can pressure sentiment even if the target still implies upside from current levels. Finviz note

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.