Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (JEF) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 18th

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 25th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th.

Jefferies Financial Group has increased its dividend by an average of 26.0% per year over the last three years. Jefferies Financial Group has a dividend payout ratio of 31.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Jefferies Financial Group to earn $4.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.8%.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $74.19 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.66. Jefferies Financial Group has a 52 week low of $34.34 and a 52 week high of $75.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70 and a beta of 1.31.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares in the company, valued at $38,144,592.54. This trade represents a 24.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 in the last 90 days. 20.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.