Pall (NYSE: PLL) was the recipient of a ratings changes during the seven days:

  • Pall had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $60.00 price target on the stock.
  • Pall had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Group. They now have a $58.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $50.00. They wrote, “Our revised FY13 EPS forecast ($3.15; +12.5%) now contemplates +$0.10 of incremental EPS contribution from $300M of anticipated share repurchase activities, earmarking the majority of the $440M of net after-tax divestiture proceeds. Such an outlook factors 3% organic revenue growth and 11% core EBIT growth, which should yield $0.30 of incremental EPS, as well as $50M of incremental structural cost reductions (+$0.30). Offsetting factors comprise: 1) +$15M of incremental R&D-related investments (-$0.10); 2) incremental FX-related headwinds (-$0.23); and 3) a higher tax rate assumption (-$0.03).”
  • Pall had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase from $55.00 to $60.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. They wrote, “Pall appears to be turning the corner after struggling with operating issues, which ranged from misplaced sales incentives to start-up difficulties in Pall’s ERP system for the Americas. In Q4:F12 (ended July 2012) the company has mostly caught up with the deferred shipments. It also launched a large and costly restructuring effort to remove stranded costs from operations following the divestiture of the Blood business. We maintain our F2013 projection of $3.10, and we lower our F2014 EPS forecast from $3.85 to $3.70 to reflect a slower rate of demand recovery. Our price target of $60 for December 2013 reflects an 11x multiple of 2013 EBITDA.”
  • Pall had its price target raised by analysts at Credit Suisse from $64.00 to $73.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock. They wrote, “What to do with PLL shares? Buy more. We believe the restructuring story is in early innings and there is significant value creation opportunities longer term via the under levered balance sheet. PLL reported FQ4 EPS of $0.86 versus our estimate of $0.78 and consensus of $0.77. Results excluded $0.22 of restructuring and other costs. The beat derived from strong margin expansion (especially in industrial) despite a small miss on the revenue side. Pall established FY13 guidance of $3.05 to $3.25 versus our estimate of $3.15 and consensus of $3.14. Our FY13 estimate remains at $3.15. We are establishing our FY14 estimate at $3.72. We are also raising our target price to $73 (from $64) based on greater confidence on structural cost takeout. The target price was based on a normalized EPS of $3.75 and a 19.5x multiple.”
  • Pall was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $65.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, “In fiscal Q4, Pall rebounded strongly from its Q3 miss (due to ERP system implementation issues) with much stronger than expected local currency revenue growth (6.4% vs our -0.5% estimate). While management still has a cautious macro outlook, we believe the rebound in order growth represents a more favorable scenario than we had anticipated when we initiated coverage in June. In addition, the company’s cost cutting initiatives appear well on schedule to deliver margin expansion and the company’s share repurchase capabilities in our view offer downside EPS protection in the case that the economy slows more than expected.”

Pall Co. traded up 1.56% on Wednesday, hitting $64.92. Pall Co. has a 52-week low of $39.81 and a 52-week high of $65.06. The company has a market cap of $7.527 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53.

Pall Corporation, along with its subsidiaries, is a supplier of filtration, separation and purification technologies, principally made by the Company using its engineering capability and fluid management, filter media, and other fluid clarification and separations equipment for the removal of solid, liquid and gaseous contaminants from a variety of liquids and gases.