Reviewing Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) & Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS)

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) and Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Jefferies Financial Group and Consumer Portfolio Services”s 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	0.91	$710.47 million	$2.96	16.26
Consumer Portfolio Services	$434.47 million	0.45	$19.33 million	$0.80	11.19

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

Risk and Volatility

Jefferies Financial Group has a beta of 1.52, meaning that its stock price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Consumer Portfolio Services has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Jefferies Financial Group and Consumer Portfolio Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jefferies Financial Group	0	4	3	0	2.43
Consumer Portfolio Services	1	0	0	0	1.00

Jefferies Financial Group presently has a consensus price target of $58.14, indicating a potential upside of 20.79%. Given Jefferies Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Jefferies Financial Group is more favorable than Consumer Portfolio Services.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

60.9% of Jefferies Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.6% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.9% of Jefferies Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 63.7% of Consumer Portfolio Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Jefferies Financial Group and Consumer Portfolio Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jefferies Financial Group	6.61%	7.83%	1.15%
Consumer Portfolio Services	4.45%	6.34%	0.51%

Summary

Jefferies Financial Group beats Consumer Portfolio Services on 13 of the 14 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 Consumer Portfolio Services

Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc. operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It is involved in the purchase and service of retail automobile contracts originated by franchised automobile dealers and select independent dealers in the sale of new and used automobiles, light trucks, and passenger vans. The company, through its automobile contract purchases, offers indirect financing to the customers of dealers with limited credit histories or past credit problems. It also serves as an alternative source of financing for dealers, facilitating sales to customers who are not able to obtain financing from commercial banks, credit unions, and the captive finance companies. In addition, the company acquires installment purchase contracts in merger and acquisition transactions; purchases immaterial amounts of vehicle purchase money loans from non-affiliated lenders. It services its automobile contracts through its branches in California, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, and Illinois. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.