Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Stock Price

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $81.00 to $75.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 43.75% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 4.0 %

NYSE JEF opened at $52.17 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.53 and a 200 day moving average of $69.38. The company has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.37. 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 has a 1 year low of $40.72 and a 1 year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 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 down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,518,000 after buying an additional 3,677,233 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,882,000 after buying an additional 2,094,191 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,031,000 after buying an additional 1,127,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. 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.