UPDATE: Citigroup Initiates Coverage On PRA Health Sciences On Ingredients For Success

In a report published Monday, Citigroup analyst Garen Sarafian initiated coverage on

with a Neutral rating and $24.00 price target. In the report, Citigroup noted, “We are initiating on PRA Health Sciences with a Neutral rating and a $24 target price. PRAH, a Contract Research Organization (CRO), is performing well after its mid-2013 acquisition of peer ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services (RPS), allowing it to compete more closely with the world's largest and most diversified CROs. The acquisition also provided key exposure to top biopharmaceutical clients, complementary to legacy PRAs position with small/mid-sized biotechs. While we favor PRA's clinical focus & believe global CROs will benefit disproportionately from macro trends including our proprietary analysis of global drug trial starts, our relative view of valuations in the CRO subsector and PRA's ~20% price appreciation post-IPO keep us on the sidelines.” PRA Health Sciences closed on Friday at $22.06.