Fortive upgraded to Buy at TD Cowen with more comfort on M&A

As previously reported, TD Cowen upgraded Fortive to Buy from Hold with a price target of $90, up from $75. After having recently spent two days with management and investors, the firm says its time with management supports “a more constructive stance with incremental comfort around capital deployment strategy, which has been our most significant hang-up historically.” Fortive’s financial performance and profile are attractive when compared to compounder peers and the firm expects valuation to re-rate higher towards the group from cycle lows if investors also gain confidence in capital deployment, the analyst added.