Auriga Reiterates Buy, Lowers PT On Esterline Technologies

In a note out today, Auriga reiterated a buy rating on Esterline Technologies ESL, but lowered its price target on the stock to $75 from $80, but that new target still implies roughly 40% upside from current levels. “Following our recent discussions with management and the company's 4Q earnings, we are reducing our adjusted FY12 / FY13 estimates to $5.35 / $6.25 from our previous estimates of $5.75 / $6.40. The reductions primarily reflect a weaker outlook on several of the company's defense programs including C-130 retrofits to foreign governments, and lower headset communication volumes. That said, we continue to expect an expanding commercial OEM environment and the integration of the Souriau acquisition to boost revenue and EPS 19.2% and 21.3%, respectively in FY12. As such, in tandem with lower operating expectations, we are reducing our price target to $75, which reflects a multiple of 14x our FY12 adjusted EPS estimate and a 12x multiple of our FY13 estimate.,” Auriga said in the note.