UPDATE: Goldman Sachs Downgrades Monsanto Following Dilutive Acquisition

In a report published Thursday, Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Koort downgraded the rating on Monsanto Company MON from Conviction List-Buy to Buy, and lowered the price target from $124.00 to $118.00. In the report, Goldman Sachs noted, “We are removing MON from the Americas Conviction Buy List; however, we reiterate our Buy rating. Since being added to the list on 9/19/12, MON has risen 14.1% vs. 15.9% for the S&P 500. On October 2, MON reported weaker than expected 4Q13 EPS, provided initial 2014 EPS guidance that was below consensus and announced a $930mn acquisition that it believes will be $0.14 dilutive to 2014 EPS. We lower our FY14 EPS from $5.54 to $5.46 to account for the lower FY13 base, but do not yet include the acquisition. We also lower our 12-month target price by $6 to $118, or 21.5x our lower FY14 EPS. Our multiple is 0.5x lower to reflect the less certain acquisition strategy.” Monsanto Company closed on Wednesday at $104.04.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Posted In: Analyst ColorDowngradesAnalyst RatingsGoldman SachsRobert Koort
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!