[GTE rated "Strong Buy". Price Target $124.]
Wednesday January 5, 12:26 pm Eastern Time
RESEARCH ALERT-Telecom wireline sector started
NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse First Boston on
Wednesday said it has initiated coverage of the U.S. telecom
services wireline sector, recommending companies to buy and
setting price targets.
-- Four positive factors will drive up sector valuations,
said analyst Dan Reingold. Those include: 1) accelerating
industry revenue growth driven by data/Internet and wireless
demand; 2) using tracking stocks to unlock growth and; 3)
more consolidation, which will provide take-out premiums to
the acquired and produce better efficiency; and 4) enormous
upside potential due to cheap valuations relative to the S&P
500 and European and United Kingdom companies.
-- Recommended as a strong buy with 12-18 month price targets
are:
-- AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news), with a price target of $94.
Shares of the company were trading up 7/16 at 51-13/16 in
trade on the Nasdaq stock market.
-- GTE Corp. (NYSE:GTE - news) and Bell Atlantic Corp.
(NYSE:BEL - news), with a price target of $124 for GTE and
$102 for Bell Atlantic. Shares of GTE were up 3-3/16 at 68-
11/16 and shares of Bell Atlantic were up 2-5/8 at 59-15/16.
Both trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
-- MCI Worldcom Inc. (NasdaqNM:WCOM - news) and Sprint Corp.,
with a price target of $81 for MCI WorldCom and a price
target of $114 for Sprint. Shares of MCI WorldCom were up 3/8
at 49-7/8 on trade on the Nasdaq stock market. Shares of
Sprint were up 7/16 at 64-5/16 in trade on the Nasdaq stock
market.
-- Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE:Q - news)
and U S West Inc. (NYSE:USW - news), with a price target of
$63 for Qwest and a price target of $109 for U.S. West.
Shares of Qwest were down 6/16 at 39-7/16. Shares of US West
were down 5/16 at 66-3/8. Both trade on the New York Stock
Exchange.
-- Companies rated a buy were:
-- Global Crossing Ltd. (NasdaqNM:GBLX - news), with a $65
price target. Shares of Global Crossing were up 1 at 47-3/4
in trade on the Nasdaq stock market.
-- Bell South Corp. (NYSE:BLS - news), with a price target of
$65. Shares of Bell South were up 1/8 at 44-11/16 in trade on
the New York Stock Exchange.
-- SBC Communications Inc., (NYSE:SBC - news) with a price
target of $74. Shares of SBC were up 3/4 at 44-15/16 in trade
on the New York Stock Exchange.
-- Williams Communications Group (NYSE:WCG - news), with a
price target of $38. Shares of Williams were up 15/16 at 27-
15/16 in trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
-- RSL Communications Ltd. (NasdaqNM:RSLC - news), with a
price target of $45. Shares of RSL were up 1/16 at 18-9/16 in
trade on the Nasdaq stock market.
-- Broadwing Inc. (NYSE:BRW - news), with a price target of
$46. Shares of Broadwing were down 1-1/8 at 32-7/8 in trade
on the New York Stock Exchange.
-- Alltel Corp. (NYSE:AT - news), with a price target of
$103. Shares of Alltel were down 9/16 at 77-7/8 in trade on
the New York Stock Exchange. |
