Jefferies Financial Group Inc. engages in the investment banking and capital markets, and asset management businesses in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The company operates in Investment Banking and Capital Markets, Asset Management, Merchant Banking, and Corporate segments. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, restructurings or recapitalizations and private capital advisory transactions; equity and debt underwriting; and corporate lending. In addition, the company offers financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services; equities research and finance; and wealth management services. Further, it provides clients with sales and trading of investment grade corporate bonds, U.S. and European government and agency securities, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, leveraged loans, consumer loans, high yield and distressed securities, emerging markets debt, interest rate, and credit derivative products, as well as foreign exchange trade execution and securitization; and manages, invests in, and provides services to a diverse group of alternative asset management platforms across a spectrum of investment strategies and asset classes. The company was formerly known as Leucadia National Corporation and changed its name to Jefferies Financial Group Inc. in May 2018. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance
Shares of JEF Stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.89. 1,330,720 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,649,726. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1 year low of $25.88 and a 1 year high of $44.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50-day moving average is $29.80 and its 200 day moving average is $32.04.
Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, June 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.19). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 17.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.
Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 27.40%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have issued reports on JEF. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.50.
Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group
In related news, Director Thomas W. Jones purchased 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $31.21 per share, with a total value of $1,248,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 55,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,746,574.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Jefferies Financial Group news, VP Rocco J. Nittoli sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.41, for a total value of $226,870.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas W. Jones bought 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.21 per share, with a total value of $1,248,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,574.02. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.90% of the company's stock.
