Goldman Sachs Lowers PT On ART To $16

Goldman Sachs, citing accelerated March outflows and near-term weakness, has lowered its price target on Artio Global Investors Inc. (NYSE: ART) from $16.50 to $16.

In the report, Goldman Sachs writes, “Artio continues to struggle with big outflows and while International Equity performance has recently improved (mainly due to an underweight Japan position), we continue to see risks to organic growth in the near- term. The stock's multiple of 11X 2012 P/E remains compelling relative to Market cap ($ mn) peers (13X 2012), however accelerating outflows will likely keep valuation under pressure. Moreover, with the stock's recent run-up (up +16% since March 15, 2011 versus SPX +2.5%), we expect the stock to be weak in the near-term.”

A Neutral rating is maintained on the stock.

ART closed yesterday at $17.12.