UPDATE: Bank of America Reiterates Neutral Rating, Raises PT on Time Warner Ahead of 3QE Report

In a report published Thursday, Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Cohen reiterated a Neutral rating on

, and raised the price target from $75.00 to $79.00. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We project TWX's 3QE will show modest low single digit revenue growth with softer OI margins, driven by low single digit OI gains at Turner and HBO, partially offset by challenging Warner Bros. comps. Key drivers incl.: (1) high single digit affil. fee growth at Turner (+8% Y/Y vs. +8% in 2Q14), (2) low-single digit adv. declines at Turner (-2%), (3) ongoing affil. gains at HBO (+8%) + lower content rev. (Boardwalk Empire s4 home ent. vs. last year's Boardwalk Empire s3 and Girls s2 home ent.) and (4) challenging comps at Warner Bros., incl. tough theatrical (Tammy, If I Stay and Into the Storm vs. last year's We're the Millers, The Conjuring and Pacific Rim) and tough home ent. (Blended, Transcendence and Godzilla vs. last year's 42 and The Great Gatsby). We project $1.5bn of buybacks in the Q.” Time Warner closed on Wednesday at $73.71.