Bank of America Merril Lynch Reports on Avon Products

Bank of America Merrill Lynch commented on Avon Products AVP in a report released yesterday. In the report, Bank of America Merrill Lynch was positive in its assessment of the company. Bank of America Merrill Lynch writes, "Our price objective of $36 is driven by a P/E of 15x our ex-charges 2012 EPS est, generally inline with AVP's 3 year historical average. While AVP's lack of visibility will always be an issue for a business so exposed to developing markets, this same exposure should result in much higher underlying economic growth as the world emerges from recession. In addition, the reversal of AVP's sizable FX transaction and translation drag should drive margin and earnings upside. Risks to our price objective are a stronger US$, an inability to drive recovery in the US business, a slowdown in developing markets growth, an unfavorable outcome to the foreign corrupt practices act investigation, and a general lack of visibility." Bank of America Merrill Lynch currently has a Buy rating on Avon Products and a price objective of $36. Shares of Avon Products closed yesterday at $29.72, up $0.10 from the opening bell.