What analysts are saying: Synovis Life, Best Buy, Mosaic

Updated: December 17, 2011 - 10:18 PM

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Last week, Synovis Life Technologies of St. Paul accepted a $325 million takeover offer from Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter Technologies. Synovis, which has annual sales of $82.3 million, makes biological and mechanical products for soft tissue repair. Synovis' technology will complement Baxter's regenerative medicine division, which had $527 million in sales last year. Synovis shareholders will get $28 a share, a 52 percent premium to Monday's closing price of $18.44. "It's a good premium," said Matt Dolan, an analyst with Roth Capital Partners. "We recently viewed [Synovis] as undervalued."

TOUGH WEEK FOR BEST BUY

Best Buy Co. reported its first quarterly same-store sales gain in nearly two years, but at the expense of its profit margins. Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Baker downgraded his recommendation on Best Buy Co. to "hold" after the Richfield-based consumer electronics company reported Tuesday that its third-quarter revenue grew 1.8 percent but profits fell 29 percent because of heavy discounting and holiday promotions. Baker wrote that Best Buy's quarter "hammers home the point that [Best Buy] may be able to drive a comp, but will have a difficult time maintaining profit levels."

MOSAIC RATING CUT

J.P. Morgan analysts Jeffrey Zekauskas cut his rating on Mosaic Co. from "overweight" to "neutral," predicting that phosphate prices could trend lower in 2012 and drag down earnings. Zekauskas cut his EPS forecast for fiscal year 2012 -- ending May 2012 -- on Plymouth-based Mosaic by 9 percent to $4.87 per share. "We are limiting our exposure to the fertilizer market through our reduction of Mosaic from overweight to neutral," wrote Zekauskas.

PATRICK KENNEDY