Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, a growth of 23.0% from the March 15th total of 2,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,110,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on JEF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.77. 1,346,095 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,579,329. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.29. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.60.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

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.