Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NYSE:JEF)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 27th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th.

Jefferies Financial Group has increased its dividend by an average of 26.0% annually over the last three years. Jefferies Financial Group has a payout ratio of 28.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Jefferies Financial Group to earn $4.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.8%.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 4.4 %

NYSE:JEF opened at $44.08 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group has a 1-year low of $28.81 and a 1-year high of $47.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13 and a beta of 1.37.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.42% and a net margin of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of JEF. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 56.7% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Covington Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 27.8% during the third quarter. Covington Capital Management now owns 2,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 67.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $103,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.