Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Issues Earnings Results

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF traded down $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,415,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,089. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.13 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1-year low of $28.81 and a 1-year high of $47.39.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 138,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,597,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 247.2% in the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 19,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 13,598 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 29,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 154.4% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 14,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 9,048 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.