UPDATE: Sterne Agee Raises PT to $45 on Charles River Laboratories

Sterne Agee increases its price target $2 to $45 on Buy-rated Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) on potentially conservative guidance from the company. Sterne Agee notes, "Based on our industry checks, we believe underlying demand for CRL's research models and preclinical services is strengthening. From our investor events at a major toxicology industry conference to continued diligence, we view CRL's current 2012 guidance to be quite conservative and would expect the company to handily beat 1Q consensus estimates. We are raising our 2012 EPS estimate to $2.78 from $2.73, which compares to guidance of $2.60-2.70 and the Street at $2.68. We are also raising our 2013 EPS estimate to $3.04 from $2.99."CRL closed at $36.09 a share on Friday.