J.P. Morgan Upgrades The Valspar Corporation

J.P. Morgan upgraded The Valspar Corporation VAL from Neutral to Overweight and raised its price target from $83 to $91.

Analyst Jeffrey J. Zekauskas  believed “the effects of the recent 30 percent decrease in the price of oil are positive for the paint and coatings industry and create investment opportunities.

"We have built in a ~$0.30/sh EPS raw material benefit for Valspar in F2015, which assumes that petrochemical raw materials decrease (6.2 percent) and raw materials generally by (1.6 percent), and cost of goods sold decreases by about (1.1 percent)," according to Zekauskas.

The firm’s upgrade follows Valspar posting better than expected Q4 earnings.

Valspar shares opened higher Friday and recently traded at $84.59, up 0.55 percent.