UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Raises PT to $33 on Foster Wheeler; Pickup in E&C Awards

Stifel Nicolaus raises its price target from $32 to $33 on Buy-rated Foster Wheeler FWLT as the company sees pickup in E&C awards from improvements in utilization. Stifel Nicolaus says, "Downstream refining and petrochemical industry awards growth rolled over in 2007 and has since been bouncing along the bottom as evidenced by the return of small and medium sized awards for FWLT's E&C segment. Strong downstream capex cycles have tended to be 7-12 years apart so we would not expect another strong cycle until 2014, which we believe will be led by N. American chemical/petrochemical producers looking to take advantage of cheap natural gas feedstocks. Due to FWLT's expertise within the downstream arena, we expect the company to benefit and management now sees a return of N. American chemical/petrochemical feasibility and FEED work in 2013." FWLT closed at $23.99 on Tuesday.