JPMorgan Upgrades Qiagen After Product Surveys, Valuation Analysis

New management at Qiagen NV QGEN would likely pursue several opportunities for portfolio rationalization and cost reduction, according to JPMorgan.

The Analyst

JPMorgan’s Tycho Peterson upgraded the rating on Qiagen from Underweight to Overweight, while raising the price target from $25 to $40.

The Thesis

The swing to a bullish rating for Qiagen follows “our recent buy-side survey, two new product surveys, and valuation analysis,” Peterson said in the upgrade note.

There have been news reports of a possible Qiagen takeout in the near term. Barring this, there seems to be potential for the company’s new management team to reset the bar and capitalize on portfolio rationalization and cost reduction opportunities, Peterson mentioned.

The worst seems to be over Qiagen, the analyst said, while added that existing “crown jewels,” like QuantiFERON, QIAsymphony, CDx, bioinformatics and forensics, are likely to continue performing well and supporting core growth.

Price Action

Shares of Qiagen has spiked almost 4.96% to $37.21 at the time of publishing on Thursday.