Schering-Plough Corp. shares edged up Tuesday after a Lehman Brothers analyst raised his rating to "Buy," saying the drug maker will post better profit and revenue growth than its rivals through 2012.
Charles Butler upgraded the stock to "Overweight" from "Equal weight," and lifted his price target to $27 per share from $22. He said Schering faces fewer patent expirations than its U.S. peers over the next five years, and he thinks sales of its cholesterol drugs will recover.
The Kenilworth, N.J., company is scheduled to report its second-quarter results Monday. Its shares added 22 cents to $21.60 in premarket electronic trading. The stock closed at $21.38 Monday.
Butler's price target implies the stock will rise 26.3 percent over the next year.
Schering-Plough markets Vytorin and Zetia through a joint venture with Merck & Co. But sales of the drugs have fallen since January, when the companies revealed results of a study that showed Vytorin was no better at preventing arterial plaque buildup than another drug, Merck's Zocor, which is now available in a less expensive generic form.
Terms & Conditions
RSS Headlines
Fool UK