Morgan Stanley Lowers Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Price Target to $81.00

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $81.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 49.92% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $54.03. The company had a trading volume of 479,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,810,691. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $40.72 and a one year high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.47.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JEF. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 46,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $332,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,515,000 after buying an additional 28,011 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 8,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 1,890 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $256,000. 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.