Goldman Sachs Downgrades Charles River Labs (CRL) to Neutral

Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Sykes downgraded Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) from Buy to Neutral with a price target of $170.00 (from $190.00).

The analyst comments: "Our Buy thesis centered around CRL's dominant position in the preclinical space with leverage to a recovery in biotech as funding levels rebounded and the company trading at a reasonable multiple relative to history. Additionally, we viewed CRL's challenges in the CDMO business as behind the company and saw opportunity for the business to be accretive to growth and margin improvement. We remain positive on CRL's competitive positioning in the preclinical space and continue to believe the company will see outsized benefit when biotech demand returns. Additionally, we believe CRL's current multiple remains optically attractive on a longer term basis. However, we no longer view the CDMO business as a positive driver and as detailed above, no longer see valuation as having a reliable floor in the current demand environment. We outline additional concerns driving our downgrade to Neutral below."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Charles River Labs click here. For more ratings news on Charles River Labs click here.

Shares of Charles River Labs closed at $165.35 yesterday.

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