Boeing shares close higher on Wednesday, Brazil’s Cade approves Boeing’s deal with Embraer

Boeing Co’s (BA) acquisition of Embraer SA’s commercial aviation unit has been approved without restrictions by Brazil’s Cade, a statement on the antitrust regulator’s website showed.

Boeing shares closed higher for the fourth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Wednesday. The stock went up 1.72% ($5.46) to $322.02, after touching an intraday high at $327.00, or a price level not seen since January 17th ($332.50).

Shares of Boeing Company have retreated 1.15% so far in 2020 compared with a 1.32% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2019, Boeing’s stock went up 1.01%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 28.88% gain.

The regulator’s top administrative council could still call for a reconsideration of Boeing-Embraer agreement, Reuters reported.

The last hurdle to the transaction now remains the approval from the European Commission, which has a deadline until April 30th to announce its decision.

In 2018, the two companies announced that the joint venture, which is to include Embraer’s commercial jet business only and not its defense and business jet operations, would lead to the establishment of a new entity, where Boeing would have a stake of 80.01%, while the Brazilian plane maker – a stake of 19.99%.

Boeing has agreed to pay as much as $4.2 billion for Embraer’s commercial aviation business.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 21 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Boeing Company’s stock price, have a median target of $350.00, with a high estimate of $440.40 and a low estimate of $260.00. The median estimate represents an 8.69% upside compared to the closing price of $322.02 on January 29th.

The same media also reported that at least 15 out of 24 surveyed investment analysts had rated Boeing Company’s stock as “Hold”, while 6 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.