Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $55.92, but opened at $53.50. Jefferies Financial Group shares last traded at $54.54, with a volume of 540,861 shares.

The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $724,971,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 13.7% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,808,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,723,000 after buying an additional 819,594 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,412,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,307,000 after buying an additional 246,578 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,381,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,882,000 after buying an additional 2,094,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,293,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

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.