In a report published Wednesday, Wunderlich Securities analyst Matthew Harrigan downgraded DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) from Buy to Hold, but raised the price target from $42.00 to $50.00.
In the report, Wunderlich Securities noted, “Following yesterday’s LightSquared developments, we now emphasize a $50 2014 price target for DISH Network (DISH) while lowering our rating to Hold from Buy. We remain skeptical on a cost synergistic merger with DirecTV (DTV- $64.60, Buy) given regulatory concerns off rural competitive effects, with any political horse-trading for in-house wireless plans not that appealing to DirecTV CEO Mike White. (Along with any sale to Verizon (VZ-NR) or AT&T (TNR) this is also subject to Charlie Ergen’s likely lofty price views). Spectrum monetization now requires i) (most likely) acquisition of T-Mobile USA (TMUSNR) as the only national alternative; ii) wholesaling with another (likely wary) wireless player, iii) or spectrum sale despite Ergen’s determination to complement his extant video biz.”
DISH Network closed on Tuesday at $45.38.
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Posted in: Analyst Color, Downgrades, Analyst Ratings