Bernstein Sees Nielsen Shares Hitting $38 With or Without Arbitron Deal, Upgrades to Outperform

Bernstein's Todd Juenger issued an earlier upgrade on shares of Nielsen (NASDAQ: NLSN) Tuesday morning. The analyst now rates the stock an Outperform, up from Market Perform previously. Juenger maintains a $38 price target on Nielsen shares.The Bernstein analyst believes shareholders in Nielsen should be largely indifferent on the outcome of the proposed deal with Arbitron (NYSE: ARB). Juenger said if the deal is approved, Nielsen shares could move "significantly" higher. On the other side, if the deal is not approved, according to Juenger, Nielsen is likely to use nearly $1 billion in cash for a both a special and regular dividend, a share repurchase plan, and possible some other M&A.Juenger warned the knee-jerk reaction in shares of Nielsen may be to the downside, but he feels the stock will rebound.The analyst said he expects shares of Nielsen to hit $38 whether or not the Arbitron deal goes through.With Nielsen shares up more than 4 percent to $33.94 at last check, Juenger's price target implies potential upside of about 12 percent.