Goldman Sachs Still Neutral On Covance After Buyback (CVD)

Goldman Sachs still has a Neutral rating on Covance Inc. CVD after the company announced a new buyback program worth $250 million. In the research report, Goldman Sachs writes, "Today Covance announced that its board of directors has authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $250 million. The buyback is in line with recent public comments from management regarding key areas of focus, which also included (1) corporate and infrastructure cost reduction, specifically reducing capacity in the toxicology business, and (2) pursuing “strategic opportunities.” While we view today's news as an incremental positive, we believe sustained stock performance remains linked to improvement in preclinical fundamentals where we have yet to see a clear path to a recovery." Shares of Covance gained $0.72 yesterday to close at $42.45, a gain of 1.73%.