Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Separately, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $43.56 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.33. 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 cap of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.70 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1 year low of $28.81 and a 1 year high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BLB&B Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $213,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.7% in the first quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 48,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $266,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.