Morgan Stanley Boosts Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target to $64.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $59.00 to $64.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a buy rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF opened at $61.97 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.97. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $31.38 and a 52-week high of $62.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24 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.

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 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 net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 59.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo bought 9,247,081 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $551,773,323.27. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JEF. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $1,781,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,190,000 after buying an additional 2,995 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.