Bank of America Maintains Buy, $40 Target on Nielsen

Bank of America maintains its Buy rating and $40 target price on Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) as the company posted results slightly below consensus estimates for 4Q11.

Bank of America notes, "4Q11 revenue of $1,421bn was $43mn or 3% below our estimate and $37mn below consensus. Constant currency revenue growth decelerated to 5% YoY from 6% in 3Q11. Adjusted EBITDA of $432mn was up 9% on a constant currency basis, but was 1% below our forecast and consensus. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 30.4% was up 110bp YoY and was 50bp above our forecast. Adjusted EPS of $0.51 was $0.04 above our forecast and $0.02 above consensus on lower interest expense and cash taxes versus our forecast."

NLSN closed at $30.22 a share on Friday.

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