Citi Has Buy Rating On Symantec Corp.

Citi Investment Research has a Buy rating and a $24 price target on shares of Symantec Corp. SYMC. In a note to investors, Citi writes, "Overall, no major surprises, but an increasing amount of detail, which sheds more light on FY11 performance and makes trend look more sustainable. Management guided to 7-8% LT growth, with 2pts from M&A. We view this level as more sustainable than last year's 8–10% range. While somewhat counter-intuitive, a lower growth rate makes us think the company is less likely to do unsustainable things to try to achieve an unrealistic goal." Citi goes on to say, "Our thesis has been based on margin improvements and we believe this can continue to play out (although would have liked to hear stronger commitments). Also we believe stabilization and slight revenue growth can drive multiple higher (although we expect it will remain at a discount to the group). Our estimates are unchanged and we reiterate our buy-rating with $24 price target." Shares of SYMC gained 38 cents yesterday to close at $19.31, a gain of 2.01%.