Jefferies & Company Reiterates Hold Rating, $11 PT on Astoria Financial

In a report published Friday, Jefferies & Company reiterated its Hold rating and $11.00 price target on Astoria Financial

. Jefferies noted, “An unfavorable balance sheet structure has led to an overly punitive NIM forecast in our view. We expect modest NIM expansion from here thanks to CRE/multi-family lending growth and ample liability repricing benefits. Positive estimate revisions (we're 10% above street for 2013), could deliver a modest short-covering rally, but little improvement in the tangible ROE profile (6%) should keep the tang. book multiple under 1x.” Astoria Financial closed on Thursday at $9.96.