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 Price Performance

JEF opened at $35.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.02 and a 200-day moving average of $32.07. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.41. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1-year low of $25.88 and a 1-year high of $44.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.21.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on JEF shares. 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 report on Monday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $33.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.50.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

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