Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen says she’s received calls today regarding concerns about Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ (VRX) financial controls. As reported last night by The Fly, Wells Fargo analyst David Maris expressed concern over Valeant’s controls after digging into the lawsuit from Depomed (DEPO).
The shares in afternoon trading are down 4%, or 53c, to $13.32. Chen, after speaking with the company, believes the concerns are “likely just noise and cannot be strung together into an argument” that Valeant has issues with financial controls. She does not see any fundamental reasons for today’s pullback.
Valeant is already ahead of its debt pay-down objectives, and can lower its debt to four-to-five times EBITDA over the next several years, Chen tells investors in an afternoon research note titled “Tune Out The Noise, And Start The Weekend On A Positive Note.” She keeps an Overweight rating on Valeant with a $23 price target.
