Jefferies Has Buy Rating On W.R. Grace

Jefferies & Co. has a Buy rating and a $56 price target on shares of W.R. Grace GRA. In a note to clients, Jefferies & Co. writes, "Tuesday, an article in the Associated Press referred to a "new danger in town scarred by asbestos" referring to Libby, MT. While the article may appear a headline risk to Grace investors, the company's liability on the matter was settled in 2008 when Grace made a $250m payment to the EPA. The crux of the article alleges that the EPA (not Grace) failed to alert residents to known asbestos contamination in the material." Jefferies goes on to say, "While asbestos contamination remains a continuing issue for Libby, MT residents, Grace paid $250m in 2008 to settle this particular matter with the EPA. As a result, Grace should be fully immunized from this liability. As a reminder, the current structure of the PI Trust would funnel all current and potential asbestos claimants through the Trust, creating a legal barrier between any future asbestos claims and Grace." Shares of GRA lost 47 cents yesterday to close at $47.57, a loss of 0.98%.