First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II (NYSE:FCT) versus Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) Head-To-Head Survey

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) and First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II (NYSE:FCT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation and risk.

Dividends

Jefferies Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II pays an annual dividend of $1.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.9%. Jefferies Financial Group pays out 44.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Jefferies Financial Group has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

60.9% of Jefferies Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 19.9% of Jefferies Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Jefferies Financial Group and First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jefferies Financial Group	$10.82 billion	1.01	$710.47 million	$3.58	15.78
First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II	$17.40 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Jefferies Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II.

Profitability

This table compares Jefferies Financial Group and First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jefferies Financial Group	7.58%	9.23%	1.31%
First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Jefferies Financial Group and First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jefferies Financial Group	0	5	2	0	2.29
First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II	0	0	0	0	0.00

Jefferies Financial Group currently has a consensus target price of $62.62, suggesting a potential upside of 10.87%. Given Jefferies Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Jefferies Financial Group is more favorable than First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II.

Summary

Jefferies Financial Group beats First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company also offers financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services; equities research, sales, and trading services; wealth management services; and online foreign exchange trading services. In addition, it provides investment grade distressed debt securities, U.S. and European government and agency securities, municipal bonds, leveraged loans, emerging markets debt, and interest rate and credit index derivative products; and manages and offers services to a diverse group of alternative asset management platforms across a spectrum of investment strategies and asset classes. The company was formerly known as Leucadia National Corporation and changed its name to Jefferies Financial Group Inc. in May 2018. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by First Trust Advisors L.P. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in a portfolio of senior secured floating rate corporate loans. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index. It was formerly known as First Trust/Four Corners Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II. First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II was formed on May 25, 2004 and is domiciled in the United States.