Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Given New $81.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $81.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $56.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.43. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $40.72 and a 12-month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given 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 2.84%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,153,000 after acquiring an additional 167,270 shares during the period. Finally, Covenant Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $3,337,000. 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.