Piper Jaffray Maintains Overweight on Monsanto (MON)

Piper Jaffray is out with its report today on Monsanto MON, maintaining Overweight. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "We maintain our Overweight rating and $95 price target on shares of MON following a state-by-state analysis of corn planting progression and insect counts. Corn planting is well behind historical averages (at just 13% of acres compared to ~70% last year at this time) while insect counts are above normal for certain species; both factors are negative for yield and positive for grain prices. Despite a solid 1Q print and an optimistic outlook for 2012, shares of MON have traded sideways with other agriculture-related stocks driven largely by heavy sector sentiment. However, fundamentals remain strong and ending stock expectations likely do not fully reflect the weather and insect data." Piper Jaffray has a $95 PT on MON. Shares of MON closed Monday at $66.98, down 1.56% from Friday's close.