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Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Has Announced That It Will Be Increasing Its Dividend To US$0.30

Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s (NYSE:JEF) dividend will be increasing to US$0.30 on 25th of February. This will take the dividend yield to an attractive 2.7%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. However, Jefferies Financial Group's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 39.5%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could be 29%, which we consider to be quite comfortable, with most of the company's earnings left over to grow the business in the future.

historic-dividend
historic-dividend

Jefferies Financial Group Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. Since 2012, the first annual payment was US$0.25, compared to the most recent full-year payment of US$1.20. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 17% per annum over that time. It is good to see that there has been strong dividend growth, and that there haven't been any cuts for a long time.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. We are encouraged to see that Jefferies Financial Group has grown earnings per share at 50% per year over the past five years. Earnings per share is growing at a solid clip, and the payout ratio is low which we think is an ideal combination in a dividend stock as the company can quite easily raise the dividend in the future.

We Really Like Jefferies Financial Group's Dividend

Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that Jefferies Financial Group is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. The company is generating plenty of cash, and the earnings also quite easily cover the distributions. We should point out that the earnings are expected to fall over the next 12 months, which won't be a problem if this doesn't become a trend, but could cause some turbulence in the next year. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. For example, we've identified 3 warning signs for Jefferies Financial Group (2 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing. We have also put together a list of global stocks with a solid dividend.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.