Symantec Shares Up 3.7% Following UBS' Upgrade To Buy

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UBS upgraded its rating on Symantec Corporation SYMC from Sell to Buy on Monday. The decision was driven mainly by the mitigating effect of Blue Coat deal on analysts' major worries.

Though the deal isn't considered a game changing thing for both parties, analysts believe it will stimulate positive changes to the financials in a near-term, such as revenue growth acceleration or EPS increase. Moreover, it will give new support to SYMC's strategic relevance with enterprises, because of "theoretical revenue synergy runway," taking into account the company's 375,000 own customers compared to Blue Coat's 15,000, and the fact of respected CEO is on the wheel.

With these changes taking place, the previous aspects of Sell recommendation, including "limited historical scope of network capabilities and sales expertise, low conviction in the ability to sustainably re-accelerate rev growth, inconsistent pace of innovation, focus" are revised.

However, UBS also pointed potential risks, such as technical and sales integration/execution risks, taking into account the size of the deal, mentioning the lack of SYMC's historical track record and Blue Coat's "acquisitive streak" (six deals in four year-period).

UBS analysts estimate another 20 percent increase in Symantec 's stock price, taking into account the already occurred rise of 15 percent following the announcement of the deal. The analyst now have a target price of $24.

Shares jumped more than 3.7 percent to $20.72 following the upgrade on Monday.

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Posted In: Analyst ColorUpgradesAnalyst RatingsUBS
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