Oppenheimer Increases Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target to $54.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Oppenheimer from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Sunday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,312,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,826. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $42.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.51. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12 month low of $28.81 and a 12 month high of $47.39. The company has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.42% and a net margin of 5.90%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.36%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.7% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.