Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Duff & Phelps Price Target in Advance of SMID-cap Report (DUF, COWN, JMP, PJC)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods issued a quarterly update on SMID-cap institutional focused broker dealers in advance of a report on 4Q10 earnings to be released the week of January 24th. In light of their findings, KBW increased the PT estimate for Duff and Phelps DUF, due to “stronger than initially forecast investment banking revenues.” KWB upgraded Duff & Phelps Price Target to $21.00 per share from $16.00 per share. However they cautioned, “The risks to our price target include market conditions as well as macroeconomic events, as well as competition in the company's core consulting business.” In the report, KWB issued a Target Price of $4.90 per share for Cowen Group (COWN), noting “Target price risks include competition in the company's businesses, as well as the potential for a meaningful slowing in capital raising and M&A activity if the economy were to weaken further.” They also issued a Target Price of $9.50 per share for JMP Group (JMP) and a Target Price of $33.00 per share for Piper Jaffray (PJC). Duff and Phelps is currently trading at $17.37 per share, down $0.46 from yesterday's close. Cowen Group is down 2.08 percent from yesterday's close, currently trading at $4.70 per share. JMP Group is up 1.03% from yesterday's close, and is currently trading at $7.82. Piper Jaffray is up 1.63% from yesterday's close, currently trading at $36.81 per share.