Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) has reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter of 2021. The financial services company’s robust results can be attributed primarily to the growth it witnessed in revenues.
Following the earnings release, shares of the company gained 4.4% to close at $33.35 in Monday’s extended trading session.
The company reported quarterly net revenues of $1.95 billion, a growth of 70% compared to last year. Moreover, it surpassed the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Growth in net revenues can be attributed primarily to the massive 227% increase in investment banking revenues last year.
Notably, the company reported EPS of $1.30, which compares favorably to last year’s earnings of $0.16. Furthermore, it topped the consensus estimate of $0.90 per share.
Meanwhile, the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, a hike of 25% from the prior dividend of $0.20. The dividend will be paid on August 27, 2021, to shareholders of record as of August 16, 2021. The annual dividend of $1.03 per share now reflects a dividend yield of 3.1% based on Thursday’s closing price of $33.35.
CEO of Jefferies Rich Handler said, “We would like to thank our colleagues and clients for Jefferies’ spectacular results thus far in 2021. Our performance reflects the continued growth and strength of our global full-service business model and our increasing market share – particularly in Investment Banking, where net revenues for the first half of the year were more than $2 billion and our backlog for the third quarter is at a record level. Additionally, our Equities, Fixed Income and Asset Management businesses all are performing well, even as the environment becomes more normalized relative to the uniquely exceptional first quarter.” (See Jefferies stock chart on TipRanks)
The stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 1 Buy. Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski recently assigned a Buy rating to the stock with a price target of $40 (25.2% upside potential).
Jefferies scores a 9 of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has the potential to outperform market expectations. Shares have gained 111.1% over the past year.
Related News:
Ingersoll Rand to Snap up Maximus for CAD$135.4M
Etsy to Acquire Brazilian E-Commerce Marketplace for $217M
Brookfield Business Partners to Acquire Modulaire for $5B
