Morgan Keegan Raising Price Target On Cooper (COO)

Morgan Keegan is raising its price target to $48 from $45 on The Cooper Companies

, after the company reported stronger than expected earnings after the bell yesterday. It has an Outperform rating on shares. In a research report for investors, Morgan Keegan writes, "Medical Devices Cooper reported 3Q results of $296 mn in sales (MK $295 mn) and $0.91 in EPS, $0.19 ahead of our estimate. In our opinion, management put up a very strong quarter reflecting market share gains, expansion in gross margin and robust FCF generation, all of which are central to our positive thesis. In addition, Cooper's management raised 2010 EPS guidance to $2.83-$2.91 from $2.50-$2.60 and free cash flow to $177-$187 mn from $140-$160 mn. Our price target is raised to $48 from $45 based on an increase in our 2011 EPS estimate to $3.24 from $3.09." Shares of The Cooper Companies gained $1.74 in after-hours trading, to trade at $43.00, good for a gain of 4.2%.