UPDATE: Jefferies Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on Analog Devices Following JulQ EPS Beat

In a report published Wednesday, Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis reiterated a Buy rating on Analog Devices ADI, and raised the price target from $56.00 to $57.00. In the report, Jefferies noted, “JulQ EPS beat by $0.05 on inline revs due to lower taxes. The outlook for OctQ revs of $688m at the midpoint missed consensus $698m, but EPS of $0.68 is only $0.01 below. Orders improved through the qtr, and gross margins improved with utilization even as inventories declined. We model ADI gross margins to expand by 230 bps through Oct-14Q, and observe that ADI's bogey of 60% div payout implies 10-20% upside to the dividend in CY14.” Analog Devices closed on Tuesday at $47.85.