Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $64.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group traded as high as $62.98 and last traded at $62.78, with a volume of 27604 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $62.07.

JEF has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo purchased 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the purchase, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $551,773,323.27. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 20.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $5,419,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 92.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 376,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,608,000 after buying an additional 180,702 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 141,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,064,000 after buying an additional 132,414 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,722,000. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $726,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52 and a beta of 1.32. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.88.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.