UPDATE: Credit Suisse Upgrades Marsh & McLennan Companies on New Valuation Framework

In a report published Wednesday, Credit Suisse analyst Michael Zaremski upgraded the rating on Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC) from Neutral to Outperform, and raised the price target from $45.00 to $48.00.

In the report, Credit Suisse noted, “We are upgrading shares of Marsh & McLennan to Outperform (target price increased to $48 from $45) in conjunction with our initiation of competitor consultant company Towers Watson (Neutral-rated). MMC's upgrade to Outperform centers around our analysis detailing (1) the earnings accretion opportunity afforded to healthcare consultants such as MMC as a result of healthcare exchange adoption and (2) our updated free cash flow based valuation framework which we believe is more reflective of earnings available to shareholders versus GAAP reported EPS.”

Marsh & McLennan Companies closed on Tuesday at $43.85.