Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04), RTT News reports. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded down $0.25 on Friday, hitting $55.85. The company had a trading volume of 3,682,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,693,778. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $50.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $82.68.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group stock. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.00.

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.