Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target Raised to $83.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price target upped by Oppenheimer from $73.00 to $83.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $74.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $34.34 and a 12-month high of $75.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.75. The firm has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 1.31.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 59.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151. 20.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. 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.