UPDATE: Bank Of America Upgrades MRC Global On Multiple Positive Factors

In a report published Friday, Bank of America analyst Vaibhav Vaishnav upgraded the rating on

from Underperform to Neutral, and raised the price target from $27.00 to $30.00. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We are upgrading MRC Global (MRC) to Neutral from Underperform as: (1) North American activity is improving faster than expected; (2) line pipe pricing has bottomed; (3) Street estimates look reasonable; and (4) the stock is down more than 14% this year indicating better valuation. Additionally, the OCTG dumping case could be a modest positive. We are increasing 2014/2015 EPS estimates to $1.66/$2.10 from $1.65/ $2.05 owing to higher activity. Our PO increases to $30 from $27, 14x forward EPS (2Q15-1Q16) vs the 13x historical average owing to improving North American activity and potentially better pricing.” MRC Global closed on Thursday at $27.66.