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 after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. 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 traded.

The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.28). 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 return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JEF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 target price on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $724,971,000. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $286,476,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,988,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677,233 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,312,000 after buying an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,029,000 after buying an additional 1,437,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.38. The company has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.37.

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.