Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Given New $59.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

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

Several other research firms have also issued reports on JEF. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.99. The stock had a trading volume of 888,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,116,740. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.43 and a 200-day moving average of $44.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.74 and a beta of 1.34. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $31.38 and a 12-month high of $57.28.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 66.30%.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group 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 transaction, the president now owns 2,591,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,979,505. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 88.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,113,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,876,529 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,405,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,046,000 after purchasing an additional 51,633 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,272,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,231,000 after purchasing an additional 510,125 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,852,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,707,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,298,000 after purchasing an additional 199,662 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.