Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Rating Lowered to "Market Perform" at Oppenheimer

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on JEF. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of JEF traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,907,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,431. The stock has a market cap of $12.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52 week low of $40.72 and a 52 week high of $82.68. The company's fifty day moving average price is $68.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.51.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The company's revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JEF. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $724,971,000. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $286,476,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677,233 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $202,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $309,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,179 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.