J.P. Morgan Maintains Overweight on Express Scripts

J.P. Morgan is out with its report on Express Scripts ESRX, maintaining Overweight. In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan writes, "Our rating on Express Scripts is Overweight. We continue to point to the positive fundamental outlook for the PBM industry, based on the opportunity around generics (the generics wave begins to have an impact in late 2011) and specialty pharmacy. In our view, the NextRx transaction has provided a significant opportunity for incremental earnings growth for the company, based on the new 10-year PBM agreement, near-term synergy opportunities, and the ability to be more competitive in the pursuit of new business. Given the tailwind associated with NextRx and share repurchases (especially following the recent debt offering), we believe Express Scripts should grow earnings faster than its peers over the next 1-2 years." J.P. Morgan maintains a $69 PT on ESRX. Shares of ESRX closed Tuesday at $54.99, up 0.37% from Monday's close.