UPDATE: Sterne Agee Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on Charles River Laboratories

In a report published Monday, Sterne Agee Group reiterated its Buy rating on Charles River Laboratories

, and raised its price target from $45.00 to $51.00. Sterne Agee noted, “CRL has traditionally traded at a discount to CVD, and we expect that discount to persist. Charles River has a less diverse revenue mix compared to Covance. The average P/E multiple for CRL over the past 10 years is 16x next year EPS forecast (range: 8x to 23x). We project 12% EPS growth for Charles River in 2014; consensus calls for 10% growth. Our CY14 EPS estimate is $3.26 while the consensus estimate is $3.18. We use a 15.5x on our CY14 EPS estimate to arrive at a $51 price target for CRL.” Charles River Laboratories closed on Friday at $40.30.