J.P. Morgan Reports on Cott

J.P. Morgan commented on Cott COT in a report released today. In the report, J.P. Morgan was positive in its assessment of the company. J.P. Morgan writes, "We are upgrading COT from Neutral to Overweight. We think the stock is set up well for upside over the next 6-12 months as the challenging raw material environment is finally in consensus, branded players should take some pricing in 2H, and debt paydown should help the multiple. COT has not participated in the staples rally (-9% vs. XLP since the March 16th bottom) and underperformed the beverage group and S&P YTD by 12%. While there may be some continued near-term choppiness, we expect fundamentals to improve in 2H and 2012. We are raising our 2011 and 2012 estimate a few pennies (to $0.70 and $0.82, respectively) and year-end PT to $10. " J.P. Morgan currently has an Overweight rating on Cott and a price target of $10. Shares of the company closed at $8.54 on Friday, down $0.03 from the opening bell.