Morgan Stanley Boosts Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target to $59.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $44.00 to $59.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $56.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48 and a beta of 1.34. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $31.38 and a fifty-two week high of $57.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.30, for a total value of $2,546,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 2,591,350 shares in the company, valued at $119,979,505. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,799,000 after acquiring an additional 936,424 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,405,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,046,000 after acquiring an additional 51,633 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,272,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,231,000 after buying an additional 510,125 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $88,852,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,168,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,925,000 after buying an additional 34,295 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.