: Jefferies upgrades JPMorgan Chase to buy from hold ahead of Q2 profit update

Jefferies analysts on Tuesday upgraded their rating on JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM to buy from hold and raised their price target by 11% to $165 a share. “While JPM has been a recent winner, we upgrade the stock to buy given a stable earnings outlook, best-in-class return on equity profile, conservative reserving history, and better revenue diversity,” analyst Ken Usdin said in a research note. JPMorgan reports second-quarter earnings on Friday. Overall, Jefferies said it continues to prefer trust banks Bank of New York Mellon BK and State Street Corp. STT and broker dealers Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS and Morgan Stanley MS ahead of most regional banks given their smaller net interest income burdens, and more stable pre-provision net revenue and minimal credit risk. Jefferies also downgraded Truist Financial Corp. TFC, Zions Bancorp ZION and Hancock Whitney Corp. HWC to hold from buy on downward revisions to net interest income and “limited differentiating catalysts.” JPMorgan Chase stock is up 1.1% in premarket trades, while Truist is down 0.8%, Zions is off by 2.2% and Hancock Whitney is unchanged.

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