UPDATE: Jefferies Raises PT on Monsanto to $78

Jefferies & Company has published a research report on Monsanto

and has raised the price target from $74 to $78 after the company reported 1Q EPS $0.07 above the $0.16 consensus estimate. In the report, Jefferies writes, "Monsanto reported $0.23 EPS in Q1, surpassing its expected $0.15-$0.20 range and beating consensus of $0.16 by $0.07. Sales were up 33% to $2.44bn, gross profits were up 34% to $1.1bn (margins up 20bps) and EBIT rose nearly 500% to $229m (margins up 720bps). The quarter benefited from two swing factors: 1/ strength in Latin America: corn seed sales growth of 46% was driven by volume growth (~20%) and price/mix; and 2/ cotton seed prepayments in Australia ($0.04/share pulled forward from 4Q12)." Jefferies maintains its Hold rating on Monsanto, which is currently trading UP $1.26 from yesterday's $76.68 closing price.