I'm gonna buy some more why not?
biz.yahoo.com
Thursday December 3, 6:23 pm Eastern Time
RESEARCH ALERT - Details on telecom upgrades
NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch said Thursday it raised its ratings on some of the regional Bell operating companies and GTE Corp. (NYSE:GTE - news), citing expectations for solid earnings growth in 1999 and the closing of pending mergers, as well as attractive stock valuations.
-- said raised the long-term ratings of Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL - news), SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC - news) and Ameritech Corp. (NYSE:AIT - news) to buy from accumulate, but kept the near-term ratings at accumulate.
-- said raised GTE Corp.'s (NYSE:GTE - news) near- and long-term ratings to buy from accumulate and highlighted the stock as its top pick in the U.S. telecommunications services sector.
-- said stock valuations are ''compelling'' at an average 22 percent discount to the Standard & Poor's.
-- said the group's average share price could increase 25 percent to 30 percent over the next 12 months.
-- said strong demand from data, Internet services, high-speed lines and vertical services, such as call waiting or Caller ID, should drive average revenue growth of almost 8 percent in 1999, consistent with growth seen in 1998.
-- said cost-cutting, productivity improvements and diminished dilution from investments such as PCS (personal communications services) will boost the group's earnings growth to 10 percent to 12 percent.
-- said expects the proposed mergers of GTE-Bell Atlantic and SBC-Ameritech to close in the second half of 1999. Said regulatory and shareholder approvals of the deals will provide a catalyst for further share price increases among the group as the cloud of regulatory uncertainty lifts.
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