UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades Procter & Gamble to Buy

Bank of America raises its rating on Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) to Buy from Neutral and raises its price target $8 to $40 as the company commits to generate $10 billion in savings by 2016.

Bank of America says, "We are lowering 12/13/14E EPS from $4.05/$4.40/$4.80 to$3.98/$4.32/$4.71. While there's been reason to question PG's ability to deliver savings, committing to such a large target represents change, in our view. In our view PG's new target represents a material step forward that the market should take seriously, as even if PG delivers only part of the savings, this could be a tough stock to miss, given its position as an under-owned benchmark. If PG can deliver on savings, it would be able to drive margins higher despite an expensive emerging markets expansion."

PG closed at $66.70 a share on Monday.

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