- Ingersoll Rand (IR +1%) edges higher after Deutsche Bank upgrades shares to Buy from Hold with a $54 price target, raised from $50, seeing the current valuation as an "optimal entry point into a very high quality stock," which nevertheless has lagged industrial peers.
- Deutsche Bank analyst Nicole DeBlase says investor interest in the stock has "picked up dramatically" in recent weeks ahead of potential catalysts including consensus revenue forecasts that could be too low, scope for upside to margin assumptions, and management's eagerness to deploy $1B-plus of capital into M&A over the next 12 months.
- Ingersoll is the third worst performer in the multi-industry electrical equipment group YTD, "despite having the attractive combination of mid/late cycle end market skew, self-help margin initiatives... and a pristine balance sheet," DeBlase writes.
- Ingersoll Rand is "well-positioned for a short-cycle industrial recovery, as well as further cost synergy upside," Stephen Simpson writes in a neutral analysis posted on Seeking Alpha.