UPDATE: DA Davidson Upgrades Consolidated Communications to Neutral

DA Davidson raises its rating on Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ: CNSL) to Neutral and raies its price target to $19 a share on the acquisition of SureWest Communications.

DA Davidson says, "With this acquisition, CNSL decreases its leverage and improves its mix of businesses toward less regulated, higher growth areas. We think CNSL will not make any other large acquisitions for the next two years. With a sustainable 8% yield, we are upgrading our rating from Underperform to NEUTRAL. Our $19 price target (previously $15.50) equates to 6.7x our 2013 pro-forma EV/EBITDA estimate, which is more in line with peer valuations."

CNSL closed at $19.19 a share yesterday.

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