Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

JEF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $59.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $40.72 and a one year high of $82.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $724,971,000. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677,233 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,179 shares in the last quarter. 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.