Monsanto Given “Buy” Rating at TheStreet (MON)

Monsanto (NYSE: MON)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at TheStreet in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

The analysts wrote, “Monsanto Company (MON) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A . The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company is trading at a premium valuation based on our review of its current price compared to such things as earnings and book value.”

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Analysts at Piper Jaffray reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Monsanto in a research note to investors on Wednesday. They now have a $130.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Atlantic Securities downgraded shares of Monsanto from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, February 19th.

Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, six have given a hold rating, and one has assigned an underweight rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “overweight” and an average target price of $111.03.

Shares of Monsanto traded up 0.04% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.95. Monsanto has a one year low of $69.70 and a one year high of $104.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $101.6. The company has a market cap of $55.162 billion and a P/E ratio of 24.53.

Monsanto last released its earnings data on Tuesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. Monsanto has set its FY13 guidance at $4.30-4.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Monsanto will post $4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd.

Monsanto Company (Monsanto), along with its subsidiaries, is a provider of agricultural products for farmers.

To view TheStreet’s full report, visit www.thestreetratings.com

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