Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04), RTT News reports. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.70%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $56.19 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52-week low of $39.28 and a 52-week high of $82.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $50.29 and a 200 day moving average of $60.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 1.45.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group stock. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.00.

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.