UPDATE: Auriga Raises PT on Boston Beer Company to $100

Auriga has published a research report on Boston Beer Company

and has raised the price target from $92 to $100. In the report, Auriga writes, "As 2012 begins, we are raising our price target on Boston Beer to $100 from $92 to reflect our 2013 EPS estimate of $4.54. We continue to use a 22x forward P/E multiple. We are also maintaining our HOLD recommendation on Boston Beer, which recognizes that Boston Beer's shares have traded higher recently after its shares surpassed a prior trading resistance level near $100. Over the past week, shares have also been very volatile, moving up 6% in intraday trading on December 27 only to retreat the following day. SAM shares may be affected by a relatively large short interest in the stock, which accounts for near 1.7 million shares which would take nearly 23 days to cover. We believe short covering may have had something to do with the recent activity, possibly driven by tax considerations to take a loss on the short position prior to year-end. While we continue to believe Boston Beer remains in the sweet spot of the beer industry, which is the craft beer segment, we believe investors should wait for a better entry point into the shares." Auriga maintains its Hold rating on Boston Beer, which is currently trading down $3.80 from Friday's $108.56 closing price.