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

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11, Briefing.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 5.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE JEF opened at $46.13 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.33. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12 month low of $28.81 and a 12 month high of $46.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.94 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,482,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $607,163,000 after purchasing an additional 233,844 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,152,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,972,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207,065 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,753,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,997,000 after buying an additional 52,336 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,662,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,478,000 after buying an additional 382,838 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 201.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,328,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,350,000 after buying an additional 2,223,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.