What Analysts Recommend for Dow Chemical ahead of 1Q17 Earnings

As of April 19, 2017, 21 brokerage firms were actively tracking Dow Chemical (DOW) stock. 76% of the analysts recommended the stock as a “buy,” and 24% of analysts recommended the stock as a “hold.”

Analysts’ consensus indicates a 12-month target price of $70.25 for Dow Chemical, which implies a return potential of 14.1% from the closing price of $61.55 on April 19, 2017.

With Dow Chemical expected to continue its good performance in 1Q17 and the news of conditional approval from the European Commission, analysts expect the proposed merger between Dow Chemical (DOW) and DuPont (DD) to go through. Shareholders are expected to benefit significantly from the merger through synergies. As a result, the majority of analysts are either recommending the stock as a “hold” or a “buy.”

Below are some of the recommended target prices from well-known brokerage firms for Dow Chemical:

• On March 6, 2017, Jefferies rated Dow Chemical as a “buy” with a target price of $75. The target implies a 12-month potential return of 21.9% over the closing price of $61.55 on April 19, 2017.
• On January 30, 2017, Barclays (BCS) rated Dow Chemical as “equal weight” with a target price of $65. It implies a 12-month potential return of 5.6% over the closing price of $61.55 on April 19, 2017.
• On January 27, 2017, Deutsche Bank (DB) rated Dow Chemical as a “buy” with a target price of $70. The target implies a 12-month potential return of 13.7% over the closing price of $61.55 on April 19, 2017.

Investors can indirectly hold Dow Chemical by investing in the ProShares Ultra Basic Materials ETF (UYM). UYM invests 8.6% of its portfolio in Dow Chemical as of April 19, 2017. In the next part, we’ll look at Dow Chemical’s latest valuations.