Analysts Changing Stride on Xerox Into Breakup

Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) reported fourth-quarter results on January 29, but the big negative reaction did not come until last Monday. The company announced that it is going to split itself into two pieces, essentially wiping the slate back to 2009 when Xerox acquired business software and services business ACS. It was not a match made in heaven.

Activist investor Carl Icahn, who has been given three board seats, has made no secret of his displeasure with the way Xerox is managed and has been a driving force for the split of the two businesses. The announcement of the split caused Moody’s to drop Xerox’s investment-grade rating to just one notch above junk and put the company’s status under review until more information on the split becomes available.

In the meantime, analysts weighed in with some price target changes:

• Barclays maintained an Underweight rating but raised its price target from $9 to $10.
• BMO lowered its price target to $10.50 and maintained a Market Perform rating.
• Brean Capital has a Buy rating but lowered its price target from $12 to $11.
• Credit Suisse has a Neutral rating and raised its price target to $11 from $10.
• Goldman Sachs has a Neutral rating but raised its price target from $10 to $10.50.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Xerox from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered its target from $13.50 to $12.00.

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Xerox stock closed at $9.46 on Friday, up about 1% on the day, in a 52-week range of $8.48 to $14.02. The consensus price target on the stock is $11.82, but that target likely does not include all the recent changes.