Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Short Interest Down 19.6% in March

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,220,000 shares, a decline of 19.6% from the February 28th total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,800,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $52.17 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $40.72 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.56.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $724,971,000. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $286,476,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,518,000 after buying an additional 3,677,233 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,029,000 after buying an additional 1,437,179 shares during the last quarter. 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.