** “We see no near term sell catalysts and view 2018 guidance as achievable,” says Mizuho analyst Irina Koffler upgrading Valeant to “neutral” from “underperform”
** U.S.-listed shares of Canadian drugmaker up 0.8 pct at $15.92 premarket
** Says VRX’s diarrhea drug Xifaxan is showing strong growth, and number of pipeline catalysts ahead will provide additional momentum in 2018
** However, Koffler says VRX turnaround story is going to take much longer than expected and does not expect company to return to growth before 2020
** Kofflex, rated 3 out of 5 stars for recommendation accuracy on VRX by TR StarMine, raises PT by $5 to $15; median PT $17
** 5 of 19 brokerages rate the stock “buy” or higher, 9 “hold” and 5 “sell” or lower
** Stock down 24 pct this year so far (Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru)