>>Wait & See on Qiagen Products
Tuesday October 9, 11:36 am ET
By Zacks Equity Research
The following excerpts explain why Zacks senior life sciences industry analyst Grant Zeng, CFA remains neutral on Qiagen N.V. (NasdaqGS: QGEN - News), the pharmaceutical company:
\'Qiagen N.V. produces and distributes biotechnology products and services primarily for separating and purifying nucleic acids (DNA/RNA). The company, through its subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and the U.S., operates in the life sciences industry with an ample portfolio of more than 500 products and automated solutions.
\'We are optimistic on a number of new research products and potential breakthrough procedures for fractionation of proteins using Qiagen's new product offerings. We would, however, like to see more conversion of home-brew protocols begin to use Qiagen's products before we become bullish on the company.
\'We would also like to see trends in research spending stabilize before we recommend the shares to investors. Our $21.00 price target corresponds to 35.3x our projected fiscal 2007 EPS of $0.71. We believe that Qiagen shares offer only limited upside at the current price. We maintain our Hold rating for Qiagen with a new target price $21.00 per share based on strong financial performance in the second quarter of the fiscal 2007.\'<<
Zack's estimate of 71 cents for this year is well beyond the range of other analysts; the highest estimate posted on Yahoo! is 61 cents. Must be something to do with pro forma earnings relative to the Digene merger. Whatever, QGEN is flirting with Zeng's target today, at a five year high. This has been a steady winner for my Mom's portfolio.
Cheers, Tuck |
