Jefferies Financial Group’s (JEF) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at UBS Group

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at UBS Group in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $76.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 22.96% from the stock’s previous close.

JEF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $78.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $61.81 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $55.73 and a 200-day moving average of $57.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Jefferies Financial Group has a twelve month low of $39.28 and a twelve month high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.22. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 45,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,145,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 15,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 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.