Citigroup Maintains Neutral, $83 PT on Waters

Citigroup reiterates its Neutral rating and $83 target price on Waters WAT as the company posts organic revenues and EPS ahead of estimates. Citigroup says, "WAT reported a positive 4Q11 operating EPS of $1.56, $0.06 ahead of consensus and $0.04 ahead of our estimate. Total revenues of $521M (+8% Y/Y; +8% org.) were higher than our est. by $2M (and the Street by $4M) combined with lower operating expenses (-$6M) more than offset a slightly lower GM (-10 bps) and higher tax rate of 15.7% (+90 bps or $0.02 to EPS) leading to the upside versus our estimate. Organic growth of +8% was 100 bps ahead of +7% guidance and (consensus at roughly 7%), management did not comment specifically on segment/regional performance, but instead noted that 4Q saw “relatively balanced strength.” GAAP EPS was $1.51." WAT closed at $83 a share on Monday.