Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Now Covered by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $67.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $60.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62 and a beta of 1.32. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $31.38 and a one year high of $62.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.07.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $1,215,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $199,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.7% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 146,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 16,531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.