Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.28 EPS

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28), Zacks reports. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 9.7 %

NYSE:JEF opened at $54.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Jefferies Financial Group has a twelve month low of $40.72 and a twelve month high of $82.68. The company has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.41.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday.

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.