Goldman Sachs Maintains Sell Rating On Jefferies (JEF)

Goldman Sachs GS released a company update on Jefferies JEF today. Yesterday morning, JEF reported earnings per share of $0.41 vs. Wall Street consensus of $0.37. Goldman Sachs had expected that the company would report EPS of $0.34. The analysts wrote that the "upside owed to improved investment banking results, particularly in equity and debt underwriting, with record industry high-yield issuance in March and April." Goldman raised their 2010 EPS estimate to $1.50 from $1.40 to reflect 2Q10 upside, but have left their 2011-2012 estimates unchanged at $1.65/$1.90. The firm also reiterated their Conviction Sell rating on JEF, as they see weakness in the third quarter for Jefferies. Goldman has a $22 price target on the shares. During the current trading session, JEF has fallen 1.70% to $23.76.