Jefferies Upgrades Blackstone Group to Buy (BX)

Jefferies is out with its report today on Blackstone Group BX upgrading BX from Hold to Buy. In a note to clients, Jefferies writes, "Trends across BX's three business segments continue to improve. Management fees are poised to rise based on improving capital formation trends, and performance fees along with transaction fees are highly correlated to an improving macroeconomic backdrop. We are upgrading BX to Buy from Hold and increasing our price target to $18.50 from $14." BX is trading at $15.37, up 0.39% from yesterday's close.