Morgan Stanley Maintains Overweight on Procter & Gamble (PG)

Morgan Stanley is out with its report today on Procter & Gamble PG, maintaining Overweight. In a note to clients, Morgan Stanley writes, "P&G announced an OTC JV with Teva Pharmaceuticals aimed at leveraging P&G's marketing strength and Teva's R&D/manufacturing capabilities. We view the deal as a clear positive given it should drive enhanced growth for PG in the attractive OTC category (which has high margins, solid growth and fragmented competition), due to higher existing Teva organic growth, as well as growth from the JV. However, combined JV (of which PG owns 51%) sales are only 1.5% of mix and of limited importance to the stock." Shares of PG closed Thursday at $61.14, up 0.38% from Wednesday's close.