J.P. Morgan Reiterates Overweight Rating on Juniper Networks (JNPR)

J.P. Morgan is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Overweight rating on Juniper Networks

; it has a $40.00 price target on the stock. The JPM analysts cited the company's recent earnings report, which showed solid Q4 results, with Q4 revenue and EPS 6% and 8% above JPM's estimates, respectively. The solid performance was driven in large part by very strong results in Routing. The analysts believe JNPR's Q4 results support the thesis that a pickup in carrier expenditure on routing capacity is underway. As for valuation, the analysts remarked, “Juniper currently trades at a 22.8x our 2011 EPS estimate of $1.66, 7% below the peer average of 24.6x. We're keeping our $40 Dec 2011 PT. We arrive at our PT by applying a 26x multiple to our 2011 EPS estimate.”