Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 9.6%

Shares of JEF opened at $52.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1-year low of $35.53 and a 1-year high of $71.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $53.38 and a 200 day moving average of $53.30.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,574,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 593.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 185,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,513,000 after purchasing an additional 159,016 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 36,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 413.3% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 21,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 17,609 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Jefferies Financial Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Jefferies Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investment banking revenue surged 57% year over year to about $1.21 billion, and equities revenue hit a quarterly record, showing strong dealmaking and trading momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: The board approved a $250 million share repurchase plan, which can support the stock by signaling management believes the shares are undervalued.
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, reinforcing capital return to shareholders.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company said its Hildene investment is expected to close in the third quarter, which could help results later but was not enough to offset near-term investor concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter EPS came in at $1.02, below consensus estimates, and revenue of about $2.21 billion also missed expectations, triggering a sell-off focused on weaker-than-expected profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Asset-management fees and investment return revenue fell 35% year over year, suggesting softness outside the core banking and trading businesses.
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors appear to be taking profits after a strong run in capital-markets-related shares, implying that much of the upbeat banking performance may already have been priced in.

Jefferies Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.