Citigroup Maintains Neutral, $80 Target on Cooper Companies

Citigroup reiterates its Neutral rating and $80 target price on Cooper Companies Inc. COO as continued manufacturing woes dampen earnings beat. Citi notes, “COO reported F4Q11 operating EPS of $1.46, $0.25 above the Street and $0.23 above our est. Lower total revs of $360.9M (-$2M; +15% Y/Y; +12% cc), a slightly lower GM (-50bp), and a higher tax rate (+40bp; $0.01 to EPS) were offset by lower opex of $146.8M (-$16M), which led to EPS beat vs. our estimate. We had expected a solid performance for the quarter as indicated by our above-consensus estimate and the company delivered – FX was also a meaningful positive contributor.” COO closed at $58.16 per share on Thursday.