Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (JEF) AI Stock Analysis

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. operates globally across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, specializing in investment banking, capital markets, and asset management services. Founded in 1962 and based in New York City, the company operates via two primary segments: Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. The Investment Banking segment provides advisory services on mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, and private capital transactions, alongside equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending, and prime brokerage. Its sales and trading operations cover corporate bonds, government securities, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed securities, leveraged loans, foreign exchange, and derivatives. In Asset Management, Jefferies manages and invests in alternative asset management platforms.

Jefferies recorded a 5-year revenue CAGR of 9.2% from FY2020 to FY2025. Annual revenue expanded from $8.95B in FY2021 to $10.82B in FY2025, with revenue growth reaching 41.3% in FY2024 before moderating to 2.9% in FY2025. Operating margin declined from 39.4% in FY2021 to 6.3% in FY2025, while net margin fell from 18.7% to 6.6%, generating FY2025 net income of $710.5M and EPS of $2.94. For the trailing twelve months ended August 31, 2026, revenue was $8.51B with an operating margin of 15.8% and net profit margin of 11.0%. In the quarter ended August 31, 2026, quarterly revenue rose 8.5% year-over-year, and quarterly earnings grew 17.9%.

As of August 31, 2026, Jefferies reported total assets of $81.30B and shareholders' equity of $10.71B. Cash and short-term investments stood at $16.9M against total debt of $39.75B, leaving net debt at $39.73B with a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.71 and a current ratio of 1.28. In FY2025, operating cash flow was -$1.50B and free cash flow was -$1.71B. Cash uses in FY2025 included $207.5M for capital expenditures, $58.5M for share buybacks, and $374.1M for dividends paid, with shares outstanding decreasing 23.8% over 5 years.

At $44.80, Jefferies trades at a market capitalization of $10.29B and an enterprise value of $22.99B. Its trailing P/E of 11.9x and forward P/E of 10.3x sit slightly below the medians of 12.1x and 10.8x for its US-listed Financial Services peers. The firm trades at a price-to-sales ratio of 1.2x compared to the peer median of 3.2x, and an EV/EBITDA of 4.8x compared to the peer median of 11.7x. Over the past year, JEF returned -5.4%, trailing the 16.8% return of the S&P 500 (SPY). Over 5 years, JEF returned 34.1% against 83.0% for the benchmark.

Jefferies pays a forward annual dividend of $1.60 per share, representing a dividend yield of 3.57% and a payout ratio of 42.3%. Distributions are paid on a quarterly schedule, and the company has recorded 17 consecutive years of dividend payments. The last ex-dividend date was November 16, 2026.

Jefferies is covered by 6 analysts, who assign 2 Strong Buy and 4 Hold ratings. The mean price target of $55.67 sits 24.3% above the last close of $44.80. For the fiscal year ending November 30, 2026, consensus estimates project revenue of $8.56B and EPS of $3.72, representing 23.7% EPS growth. For the following fiscal year, 4 analysts estimate revenue of $9.15B and EPS of $4.52. Jefferies has beaten EPS estimates in 2 of the last 4 quarters.

This page is an AI-written research summary of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (JEF). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

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