Dupont shares up 1.9% on strong outlook; Banc of America retains neutral rating

Monday, December 03, 2007; Posted: 03:50 PM

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NEW YORK, Dec 04, 2007 (Thomson Financial via COMTEX) -- DD | charts | news | PowerRating -- Banc of America Securities reiterated a neutral rating for E.I. duPont de Nemours and Co. Monday after the company affirmed a strong revenue and earnings outlook for 2008.

DuPont's stock, a component of the Dow industrials, was up 1.9% at $47.03 in afternoon trading after the company said it continues to expect revenue and earnings in its agriculture and nutrition unit to increase by more than 10% this financial year.

Despite this favorable outlook, Banc of America views the stock's current valuation as fair, and said the company faces other challenges.

"Favorable trends include robust agriculture markets, healthy demand overseas and cost cutting," the firm said. "However, we view valuation of 14.9 times our $3.17 [earnings estimate] for 2007 as fair given likely pressure on U.S. planted corn acreage in 2008, overweight auto exposure, cyclical pressure in U.S. construction, and a projected EPS hit of 41 cents a share in 2010 following pharma patent expirations for Cozaar/Hyzaar."

Banc of America's 12-month price target for DuPont is $48. Christie Rizk cr/tk1

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For full details on Du Pont de Nemours & Company E.I. (DD) click here. Du Pont de Nemours & Company E.I. (DD) has Short Term PowerRatings of 5. Details on Du Pont de Nemours & Company E.I. (DD) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

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