Morgan Stanley Cuts Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target to $75.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $81.00 to $75.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on JEF. Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $52.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $40.72 and a 52-week high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 53.69%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $286,476,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,153,000 after purchasing an additional 167,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $788,000. 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.