Jefferies Financial Group - JEF Stock Forecast, Price & News

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. engages in the investment banking and capital markets, and asset management businesses in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The company operates in Investment Banking and Capital Markets, Asset Management, Merchant Banking, and Corporate segments. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, restructurings or recapitalizations and private capital advisory transactions; equity and debt underwriting; and corporate lending. In addition, the company offers financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services; equities research and finance; and wealth management services. Further, it provides clients with sales and trading of investment grade corporate bonds, U.S. and European government and agency securities, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, leveraged loans, consumer loans, high yield and distressed securities, emerging markets debt, interest rate, and credit derivative products, as well as foreign exchange trade execution and securitization; and manages, invests in, and provides services to a diverse group of alternative asset management platforms across a spectrum of investment strategies and asset classes. The company was formerly known as Leucadia National Corporation and changed its name to Jefferies Financial Group Inc. in May 2018. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of JEF Stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.52. The stock had a trading volume of 783,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,321,437. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $29.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.08. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $25.88 and a 52-week high of $44.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 17.23% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $33.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.50.

Insider Activity at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, Director Thomas W. Jones purchased 40,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.21 per share, for a total transaction of $1,248,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,746,574.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Jefferies Financial Group news, VP Rocco J. Nittoli sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.41, for a total value of $226,870.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas W. Jones bought 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $31.21 per share, for a total transaction of $1,248,400.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 55,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,746,574.02. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.