Research analysts at Sterne Agee started coverage on shares of Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) in a report released on Tuesday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Sterne Agee’s price objective points to a potential upside of 32.48% from the company’s current price.
The analysts wrote, “In our view, CRL can be characterized as a dominant player within businesses that possess high barriers to entry. With innovative product and service offerings offered at competitive prices, we believe large biopharmaceutical companies seeking to variable-ize cost structures will look to CRL as a provider of choice. We are re-initiating coverage of CRL with a Buy rating and $56 price target.”
A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on CRL. Analysts at Barclays Capital raised their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research note to investors on Monday, June 3rd. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Separately, analysts at Raymond James downgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note to investors on Friday, May 31st. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, analysts at ISI Group cut their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories from $45.50 to $44.50 in a research note to investors on Thursday, May 2nd. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
Shares of Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) traded up 0.57% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.51. Charles River Laboratories has a 52 week low of $31.48 and a 52 week high of $46.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $43.3. The company has a market cap of $2.084 billion and a P/E ratio of 21.17.
Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $291.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $294.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Charles River Laboratories has set its FY13 guidance at $2.80-2.90 EPS. Analysts expect that Charles River Laboratories will post $2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) is a global provider of solutions, which accelerate the early-stage drug discovery and development process.
