"This is a great buying opportunity"...PaineWebber's analyst Alice Schroeder.
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Tuesday February 15, 9:58 am Eastern Time
RESEARCH ALERT-Berkshire Hathaway rating raised
NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - PaineWebber on Tuesday said analyst Alice Schroeder raised her rating on Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRKa - news) (NYSE:BRKb - news) to buy from attractive, saying the stock has been beaten down unfairly.
-- ``We attribute weakness in the stock to false rumors about Warren Buffett's health, unfounded concern over tobacco liability, and general aversion to non-technology names,' Schroeder said in a research note.
-- Schroeder, an insurance analyst, is considered one of the top analysts covering the holding company.
-- ``This is a great buying opportunity: Berkshire is now trading at its lowest valuation relative to book value since 1983,' she said.
-- Class A shares were not yet open for trading on the New York Stock Exchange but were indicated to open higher, at between $45,000 and $46,000 a share, up from an NYSE Monday closing price of $43,100.
-- Shares of the company tumbled in 1999 from a level of about $77,000 in May. The stock had a brief resurgence in late October but has seen sharp losses in the past several sessions.
-- Schroeder said her upgrade comes despite the fact that the company is facing several negative factors: a market that is focused on momentum, valuation levels that are ``often considered irrelevant'; continued selling pressure as money moves away from companies seen as being value names; and the fact that the company is forecast to post weak operating earning in the upcoming quarter.
-- Nevertheless, she said, ``we believe the stock is so compellingly priced that it simply overwhelms these factors.'
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