Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 5.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $46.13 on Thursday. 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 $46.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.94 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.33.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 56.7% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Covington Capital Management boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covington Capital Management now owns 2,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $103,000. Hedge funds and other 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.