Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating on Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), and raised the price target to $58.00 (from $54.00), following the company's 1Q earnings report. DOW reported a $0.05 beat over forecasts, as EBITDA missed by $0.01. Jefferies cut Q2 EPS estimates $0.07 to $0.84 primarily to reflect more cautious assumptions on Performance Plastics and Performance Materials & Chemicals margins, mitigated by better ag trends and a lower tax rate.

Analyst Laurence Alexander commented, "We are raising estimates slightly as the oil rally, maintenance outage season, and the prospect of increasing pricing pressure over the next couple of years has bolstered producer discipline and supported ethylene chain pricing slightly better than we expected. This appears largely priced in."

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Shares of Dow Chemical closed at $52.61 yesterday.