Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $60.29, but opened at $54.28. Jefferies Financial Group shares last traded at $55.35, with a volume of 1,019,138 shares trading hands.

The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note 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 reduced their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $92.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 925.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,504,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,153,000 after purchasing an additional 167,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $788,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.40 and a 200-day moving average of $69.52.

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.