Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) PT Raised to $56.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by Oppenheimer from $54.00 to $56.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Oppenheimer's target price would suggest a potential upside of 30.05% from the stock's previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $44.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:JEF traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.06. The company had a trading volume of 709,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,130. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $28.81 and a fifty-two week high of $47.39. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $43.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.43.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,236,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $130,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,920 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $2,435,000. Hosking Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 11.5% during the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 842,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,877,000 after acquiring an additional 86,898 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 234,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,462,000 after purchasing an additional 77,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 120,035 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,397,000 after purchasing an additional 25,040 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.