UPDATE: Stifel Reiterates on Illinois Tool Works on Additional Margin Opportunities Ahead

In a report published Wednesday, Stifel analyst Stanley Elliott reiterated a Buy rating on Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW), and raised the price target from $90.00 to $95.00.

In the report, Stifel noted, “ITW reported another quarter of strong results, in our view, particularly from a return perspective. On 3.3% organic growth, EBIT improved 180bps y/y to 18.7% and adjusted ROIC increased 240bps to 17.2%. Both of these metrics highlight the ongoing benefits being realized through the Enterprise Strategy, which we still believe is in the early innings. We found nothing in this release to dissuade us from our belief that ITW will achieves its 20%-plus type EBIT margin and ROIC enterprise targets over the next several years.

"In fact we continue to believe that ITW is tracking well, if not ahead, of these stated 2017 goals. We maintain our Buy rating and are increasing our target to $95.”

Illinois Tool Works closed on Tuesday at $85.11.