UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades Dover Corp. to Buy, Raises PT Following Knowles Corporation Spin-Off Announcement

In a report published Thursday, Bank of America analyst Andrew Obin upgraded the rating on Dover Corp. DOV from Neutral to Buy, and raised the price target from $76.00 to $90.00. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We are upgrading DOV to a Buy with a $90 price objective on the back of the company's announcement that it is spinning its Knowles and Sound Solutions businesses within its Communication Technologies segment into a new public company called Knowles Corporation ('Knowles'). The transaction is expected to close early next year. Our Neutral on Dover was largely predicated on our negative macro view on Dover's exposure to Nokia and Blackberry platforms as well as concerns about the pace of the value ramp up on Apple's iPhone. Longer term, we were concerned about the sustainability of returns in these businesses as the smartphone business becomes more commoditized over time with the entry of lower-end players.” Dover Corp. closed on Wednesday at $76.41.