UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Downgrades Windstream Corporation to Underweight, Lowers PT

In a report published Wednesday, Piper Jaffray & Co. downgraded its rating on Windstream Corporation

from Neutral to Underweight, and lowered its price target from $8.00 to $6.50. Piper Jaffray noted, “We are downgrading Windstream to Underweight as we believe there is limited upside to owning the stock. The company has failed to meet expectations in 2012, with management having lowered guidance on the 3Q print. Investors remain concerned about dividend sustainability, which continues to weigh heavily on the shares. Not only is Windstream failing to get credit for one of the highest dividend yields, we believe the high dividend yield makes it even more vulnerable to any dividend taxation policy changes. We do believe that trends can improve at Windstream, but probably not fast enough. In our opinion, Windstream is less attractive than other rural wireline operators” Windstream Corporation closed on Tuesday at $8.31.