Qiagen Spending for Growth

Qiagen N.V. (QGEN - Snapshot Report), through its subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and the U.S., operates in the life sciences industry with a portfolio of more than 500 products and automated solutions. Though the molecular diagnostic and research market offer enormous growth, the company faces stiff competition. As such, we maintain our Hold rating for Qiagen.

The company continues to remain aggressive on the acquisition front. The most significant deal closed by the company in July 2007, is the acquisition of Digene Corp., which should boost the topline going forward. Another recent significant acquisition was Corbett Life Sciences which occurred in July 2008.

We believe the company will continue entering into strategic partnerships and alliances going forward. We are optimistic on a number of new research products and potential breakthrough procedures for fractionation of proteins using Qiagen’s new product offerings.

We would, however, like to see more home-brew protocols begin to use Qiagen’s products and trends in research spending stabilize before we become bullish on the company. Our $22 price target corresponds to 35 x our projected fiscal 2009 EPS of $0.75, discounted back at 20 percent for one year. We believe that Qiagen shares offer only limited upside at the current price.

Read the full analyst report on QGEN

Read the full analyst report on QGEN