Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) Competitors

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) and Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Which has more risk & volatility, JEF or ARES?

Jefferies Financial Group has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ares Management has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in JEF or ARES?

Jefferies Financial Group received 16 more outperform votes than Ares Management when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 68.76% of users gave Ares Management an outperform vote while only 53.47% of users gave Jefferies Financial Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Jefferies Financial Group	Outperform Votes 617 53.47%	Underperform Votes 537 46.53%
Ares Management	Outperform Votes 601 68.76%	Underperform Votes 273 31.24%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of JEF or ARES?

60.9% of Jefferies Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.0% of Ares Management shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Jefferies Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Ares Management shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is JEF or ARES more profitable?

Ares Management has a net margin of 11.35% compared to Jefferies Financial Group's net margin of 10.57%. Ares Management's return on equity of 16.64% beat Jefferies Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jefferies Financial Group	10.57%	7.92%	1.26%
Ares Management	11.35%	16.64%	3.41%

Is JEF or ARES a better dividend stock?

Jefferies Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ares Management pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Jefferies Financial Group pays out 53.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ares Management pays out 183.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Jefferies Financial Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts rate JEF or ARES?

Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus price target of $76.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.10%. Ares Management has a consensus price target of $173.83, suggesting a potential upside of 11.49%. Given Jefferies Financial Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Jefferies Financial Group is more favorable than Ares Management.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jefferies Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Ares Management	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62

Does the media favor JEF or ARES?

In the previous week, Jefferies Financial Group had 14 more articles in the media than Ares Management. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for Jefferies Financial Group and 23 mentions for Ares Management. Ares Management's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Jefferies Financial Group's score of 0.75 indicating that Ares Management is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Jefferies Financial Group	15 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ares Management	13 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation and earnings, JEF or ARES?

Jefferies Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Ares Management. Jefferies Financial Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ares Management, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jefferies Financial Group	$10.52B	1.21	$743.38M	$2.98	20.72
Ares Management	$5.19B	9.47	$440.96M	$2.03	76.81

Summary

Jefferies Financial Group beats Ares Management on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.