Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.42% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $44.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13 and a beta of 1.37. Jefferies Financial Group has a 12-month low of $28.81 and a 12-month high of $47.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.37.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.67.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JEF. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,482,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $607,163,000 after purchasing an additional 233,844 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 44.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,207,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,753,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,997,000 after purchasing an additional 52,336 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,662,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,478,000 after purchasing an additional 382,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 201.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,328,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,223,630 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.