Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03), Yahoo Finance reports. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of JEF traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,484,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,212,685. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $31.38 and a fifty-two week high of $62.98.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on JEF. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the 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.