Jefferies Raises Price Target on Blackstone Group (BX)

Jefferies is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Buy rating on Blackstone Group BX; it has a $20.00 price target on the stock, up from $18.50. The Jefferies analysts cited the company's recent earnings report, which handily beat estimates. They noted that, heading into 2011, BX has approximately $30 billions in dry powder and approximately $90 billion in performance fee-eligible assets. They said that private equity multiples are looking attractive for exits and they would expect to see more IPOs similar to the recent transactions in Bank United and Nielson (both oversubscribed) in the coming months As for valuation, the analysts remarked, “Our revised $20.00 price target reflects a combination of a higher multiple (20x) attributed to a relatively stable base net management fees and a discounted multiple (10x) attributed to more variable net performance fees.”