Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $71.00 to $73.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group traded as high as $69.74 and last traded at $69.74, with a volume of 20350 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.82.

JEF has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 over the last three months. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 147.2% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 21,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 12,929 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 148,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,544,000 after purchasing an additional 2,963 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $529,000. Algebris UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,154,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $798,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 11.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

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.