Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Raises Dividend to $0.35 Per Share

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 26th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.35 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Jefferies Financial Group has raised its dividend by an average of 26.0% per year over the last three years. Jefferies Financial Group has a payout ratio of 28.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Jefferies Financial Group to earn $4.35 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 27.6%.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 6.4 %

Shares of JEF opened at $48.94 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $31.38 and a fifty-two week high of $49.75. The company has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,314,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,165,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 55,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.30, for a total transaction of $2,546,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 2,591,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,979,505. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.33.

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.