UPDATE: UBS Investment Research Downgrades Taminco Corp. to Neutral, Raises PT on Valuation

In a report published Friday, UBS Investment Research analyst Bill Carroll downgraded the rating on

from Buy to Neutral, but raised the price target from $21.00 to $24.00. In the report, UBS Investment Research noted, “Believe could eventually benefit from more liquidity (free float only ~$420 mil., 72% held by Apollo). Valuation full for now, at higher end of specialty chem. Also shifting $0.04 between 2Q13 & 4Q13 to better reflect seasonality of agricultural markets (TAM's largest end applications). TAM is our last reporting firm (Aug 13), and does not provide guidance. Taminco is #1 globally in a niche known as alkyl amines, which are ingredients in a wide variety of products. There are no other public pure play producers. Competitors are typically either small divisions of large diversified firms like BASF and DuPont, or small private firms. Margins are relatively stable because raw mat'ls are passed through to customers relatively quickly (1-2 months). The largest end market is agricultural chemicals, at about 30% of sales. The animal nutrition market and personal care markets represent about 15% each.” Taminco Corp. closed on Thursday at $22.93.