Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Raised to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group's stock rating was upgraded from "sell" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a more favorable outlook from analysts.
• Morgan Stanley increased its target price for Jefferies from $54.00 to $72.00, while Zacks also upgraded their rating to "hold."
• The company's most recent quarterly earnings missed expectations, reporting $0.40 EPS against an expected $0.44, indicating potential challenges in revenue performance.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

JEF has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.67.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $69.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.21 and a beta of 1.49. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $39.28 and a 12-month high of $82.68. The business's fifty day moving average price is $61.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.79.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.59%. Jefferies Financial Group's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $107,356,000. Eminence Capital LP purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $79,958,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 30.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,126,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $274,627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,822 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $58,972,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 6,056.0% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 949,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,905,000 after acquiring an additional 933,653 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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