UPDATE: Jefferies & Company Reiterates Hold Rating, Raises PT on Charles River Laboratories

In a report published Wednesday, Jefferies & Company reiterated its Hold rating on Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL), and raised its price target from $35.00 to $44.00.Jefferies noted, “3Q results were better than expected, making the narrowed 2012 guidance more conservative. Getting $3 in 2013 EPS requires PCS to continue to outgrow the industry with improving margin. Incremental margin was attractive YoY, but negative sequentially. CRL needs RMS to perform better than in 3Q and share the load with PCS, not hand it off. The AZN deal should help. We raise our PT and 2013 estimates.”Charles River Laboratories closed on Tuesday at $39.40.