Merit Medical initiated with an Outperform at Baird

Baird initiated coverage of Merit Medical with an Outperform rating and $96 price target. The company has scaled its global business over the past 35-years to over $1.3B in sales, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Merit has also outlined what the firm sees as an achievable 5%-7% organic top-line growth outlook, operating margin expansion, and strong free cash flow generation story, though that outlook could prove conservative especially as new products and tuck-in M&A layer in, the firm states, adding that thanks to this level of “predictable and durable” growth, the stock should carry a premium valuation relative to comps.