Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Given New $47.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $54.00 to $47.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $97.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.14.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $40.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1 year low of $35.53 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.58.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.86% and a net margin of 6.61%.The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Common Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $4,011,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 927.8% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 23,474 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 245.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 651,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,603,000 after acquiring an additional 462,546 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 186.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 57,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,770,000 after acquiring an additional 37,530 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 50,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,301,000 after purchasing an additional 21,085 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Jefferies Financial Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investment-banking strength drove revenue growth (1Q net revenues ~$2.02B, up ~26.6% YoY) and higher net earnings versus the prior year, supporting the view that core dealmaking remains robust. Business Wire: Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies declared a $0.40 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~4%), which can attract income-focused investors and support the share price. MSN: Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity: a large block of call purchases (16,488 calls) suggests speculative bullish positioning by traders, which can amplify upward momentum in the stock. Benzinga: Options Flow
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman Sachs trimmed its JEF price target from $54 to $47 but kept a Buy rating — a mixed reaction that signals confidence in longer-term upside while tempering near-term expectations. Benzinga: GS Target Cut
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing takeover and strategic-talk speculation (earlier reports that SMFG could be interested) and Jefferies’ relatively lower valuation continue to circulate — a catalyst that can move the stock but remains uncertain. Zacks: Takeover Speculation
• Negative Sentiment: Credit losses tied to private-lending blowups and specific exposures (reported ~$17M tied to two collapses, plus additional write-offs such as a ~$10M First Brands hit) eroded some of the investment-banking gains and helped push results below some analyst EPS expectations. WSJ: Private-Lending Losses
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms (e.g., Pomerantz, Bronstein) have launched investigations into Jefferies, creating legal and reputational uncertainty that can pressure the stock until matters are clarified. PR Newswire: Pomerantz Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Additional analyst downside: BMO and others lowered price targets (BMO to $42), signaling that some brokers are pulling back valuation and creating potential selling pressure. AmericanBankingNews: BMO Target Cut

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.