{{articledata.title}}

After a blistering rally in 2024, investment bank %JefferiesFinancialGroup (NYSE: $JEF ) has experienced a drawdown this year, opening an opportunity for investors to buy the small-cap stock.

The Wall Street firm outperformed nearly all other U.S. financial stocks last year, with its share price more than doubling to a 52-week high of $82.68 U.S. per share.

However, since the start of 2025, the stock has pulled back 32% to currently trade at $53.60 U.S. a share.

The decline has made Jefferies Financial Group cheaper and opened an attractive entry point for investors to take a position.

The drawdown has been largely due to a slump in U.S. financial stocks on rising concerns that the American economy might be headed for a recession.

The pullback also comes despite Jefferies Financial Group reporting record financial results for the fourth and final quarter of last year.

The firm announced that its Q4 2024 profit rose 212% to $205.7 million U.S., while its revenue increased 63% to $1.96 billion U.S.

However, despite the strong growth, earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter came in at $0.91 U.S., which was below consensus estimates of $0.97 U.S., sending the stock lower.

In the earnings statement, management said the Q4 results were largely driven by investment banking business, with record revenue of $596.7 million U.S. on its advisory work for clients.

Jefferies said that its investment banking revenue for all of last year totaled $3.40 billion U.S., the second-highest annual figure ever for the firm.

With deals such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings (IPOs) expected to rise under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, now might be an opportune time to buy JEF stock.

Other reasons to like Jefferies’ stock include a market capitalization of right around $10 billion U.S., and a quarterly dividend of $0.40 U.S. per share, giving it a yield of 3%.

Owing to this year’s drawdown, Jefferies Financial Group also trades at an attractive valuation of 18 times future earnings estimates.

If JEF stock falls further amid the current U.S. market correction to test its 52-week low of $40.72 U.S., it would be a no-brainer pick-up for long-term investors.