Jefferies Financial price target lowered to $93 from $97 at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst Ryan Kenny lowered the firm’s price target on Jefferies Financial (JEF) to $93 from $97 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Q4 results were strong on a year-over-year basis, but “bulls were looking for even more revenue growth and some core comp ratio leverage,” the analyst tells investors. While the firm expects the stock trades “slightly weaker on Friday” given bulls’ expectations, it adds that it interprets the dividend increase as showing confidence in earnings growth over the next several years and argues that the company’s shareholder letter “points to financial stars aligning.”