Barrington Remains Bullish and Raises Price Target on Illinois Tool Works (ITW), New Target Allows for 38% Upside

Barrington Research is reiterating its Outperform rating on shares of Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) and is raising its price target from $60 to $80 following strong Q1 earnings.

The company released its Q1 results with sales topping the firms forecast by $346 million and its EPS also topped its estimate by $0.07.

ITW raised its FY11 EPS range to $4.16-4.34, but after adjusting for the $0.33
Australian tax gain, ITW's 2011 EPS forecast is $3.83-4.01. As a result the firm is increasing its FY11 estimate from $3.82 to $4.00.

As Q2 guidance calls for EPS of $0.99-$1.05 and sales growth of 16-18%, Barrington is raising its Q2 estimate from $0.99 to $1.04. The firm is also increasing its FY12 estimate from $4.48 to $4.60.

A analyst at Barrington comments, "We believe that ITW is a top industrial company generating significant cash flow. The seasoned management team is executing on a growth strategy, which includes allocation of capital to sales growth opportunities, divesting business units that don't have strategic growth opportunities, international expansion, acquisitions and share repurchase."

For more ratings news on Illinois Tool Works click here and for the rating history of Illinois Tool Works click here.

Shares of Illinois Tool Works closed at $58.29 yesterday.

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