Chemtura Rallies on Longbow Upgrade

Chemtura

rallied three percent on an otherwise down day, after analysts at Longbow Research upgraded the company to a Buy rating (from Neutral) with a $26 price target. Shares are currently trading near $21. Analysts cited the Solaris acquisition, a reinvigorated AgroSolutions pipeline, and an eventual divestiture of the company's consumer products as key momentum drivers. To some extent, Longbow is late to the party. Shares of Chemtura are up over 86 percent year-to-date. Most notably, shares climbed from a recent low around $16 in October to their current price. That doesn't mean shares can't continue to climb, but the great value story might already be exhausted. Chemtura acquired Solaris' bromine assets back on November 2. Like Longbow's analysts, market participants seemed to view the move as bullish, as shares have rallied since then. Chemtura is a smaller mid cap company that focuses on specialized chemical production. Shares traded near $21.10 around midday Thursday.