UPDATE: Benchmark Initiates Coverage on Sunshine Heart on Potential of C-Pulse Heart Assist System

In a report published Tuesday, Benchmark Company analyst Jan Wald initiated coverage on Sunshine Heart SSH with a Speculative Buy rating and $16.00 price target. In the report, Benchmark Company noted, “We are initiating coverage of Sunshine Heart with a Speculative Buy rating and Price Target of $16. The company's C-Pulse Heart Assist system is surgically wrapped around the aorta and provides circulatory support from outside the blood stream which avoids anticoagulation needs. The device has been approved in Europe and is in a pivotal trial in the U.S. and a post-market study in Europe, which will provide the only meaningful revenues through 2015. The device targets patients with Class III heart failure, or patients healthier than those treated by the LVAD market currently approaching a $400 million market in the U.S., and who are often beyond the benefits of drug or CRT therapy. We expect U.S. commercial sales to begin in late 2017, and thus drive our EV/Sales price target of $15 on 2018 revenues of $37 million which we blend with our $18 DCF price target to arrive at our $16 price target which supports our Speculative Buy rating.” Sunshine Heart closed on Monday at $11.58.