Wunderlich On Hain: M&A And Management Changes To Drive Recovery From Share Price Plunge

Last Monday, Hain Celestial Group Inc (NASDAQ: HAIN) announced it would miss prior forecasts in its earnings report, and delayed the reporting of their earnings release. The news quickly sent Hain shares down over 25 percent.

Wunderlich's Take

Wunderlich's Mitchell Pinheiro commented on Hain's recent price action and how potential M&A deals could recover Hain's stock price. The analyst reiterated Hain's Buy rating and $52.00 price target, claiming the dip provides a "rare" buying opportunity.

"The stock's precipitous decline on the heels of an internal investigation into the company's revenue recognition and a 4Q16 performance that will miss its previously released guidance presents a favorable risk/reward scenario, in our view," stated Pinheiro.

Related Link: Hain Celestial Stock Selloff May Be Excessive, Says Argus

The Wunderlich analyst believes in order to turn things around, management needs to upgrade its skill set to meet the Hain's promotional and marketing challenges and those formed by the company's three-year cost savings program.

Acquisition Target

With lower capital costs, "cash-rich" consumer product companies and the "desperate reach for growth by large [...] companies," Hain is in a good position to be acquired, according to Pinheiro. "We believe HAIN is at the point where its portfolio is best handed-off to a larger company with greater resources and a deeper management skill set," Pinheiro said.

In accordance with Hain's guidance underperformance comments, Pinheiro lowered Q4's EPS estimate from $0.55 to $0.52 and lowered U.S. revenue forecasts.

According to TipRanks, Mitchell Pinheiro has a 69 percent success rate and a +22.6 percent average return per recommendation.

At time of writing, Hain Celestial traded at $37.99, down 1.20 percent Tuesday.

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