Jefferies shares remain undervalued, Oppenheimer says
BUZZ-Jefferies shares remain undervalued, Oppenheimer says ** Jefferies Financial's JEF.N shares remain deeply undervalued and the investment bank stands to reap benefits from a rebound in private-equity activity, Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski says
** JEF stock slipped 2.7% on Monday as the company hosted its annual investor day, while benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX gained 0.4%
** Market's reaction on Monday was "perverse" as management more explicitly signaled the coming positive inflection in profitability, Kotowski says
** JEF's investment banking buildout has been expensive but successful, noting the bank's M&A revenues are bigger than BofA and Citi in 9M 2026 - Kotowski
** "M&A and ECM (equity capital markets) are actually some of the least capital-intensive businesses in financial services," Kotowski says, adding that a company focused on those sectors should over time generate higher profitability
** Two of 5 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher and 3 "hold"; median PT $52 - LSEG data
** As of last close, JEF shares down 29.6% YTD
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)