Bank of America Merrill Lynch Maintains Buy on CenturyLink

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is out with its report today on CenturyLink

, maintaining Buy. In a note to clients, Bank of America Merrill Lynch writes, "Among yield-centric stories in the sector, CTL trades as the cheapest on EV/EBITDA multiple vs. a sector average of 6.1x. Despite having the 3rd highest yield in the S&P 500, CTL's dividend is sourced from an investment grade rated balance sheet and with the best coverage of any dividend paying stock in the telecom sector. More than just a yield story, we believe CTL is set up well as an emerging ‘beat and raise' story with conservative guidance anchored in modest Qwest growth expectations, separate from integration cost synergies, which will begin to get expressed at 2Q results." Bank of America Merrill Lynch maintains a $50 PO on CTL. Shares of CTL closed Friday at $39.45, down 0.18% from Thursday's close.