UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Raising Price Target on Northrop Grumman

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is out with a research report on Northrop Grumman NOC and it is raising its price target to $50 from $48, but it has a Neutral rating on shares. In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. writes, "NOC delivered another strong quarter driven by better than expected margins, and management raised guidance for the year. However, we are cautious heading into 2012 as we believe the company's developing trend of sales misses / margin beats is not sustainable, especially considering the weak fundamental outlook for next year. Management's 2012 pension guidance was much better than we anticipated, and we are increasing our 2012 and 2013 GAAP EPS estimates accordingly (although it is important to note that changes in pension estimates have no impact on our price target or rating as we derive both from pension-adjusted numbers). We continue to rate the stock Neutral." Shares of NOC lost 97 cents yesterday to close at $55.60, a loss of 1.7%.