Bank praises US cable giants

Investment bank JP Morgan has issued strong “Overweight” advice on some US cable operators to its clients. The bank says that there’s a “spectrum of opportunity” for the pay-TV and broadband businesses.

In particular, it cites Charter as warranting an “Overweight” rating and recognising the cable operator’s strength in broadband. The company is given a price target of $735/share some 11 per cent ahead of its current value.

Charter’s rival Comcast is also rated as “Overweight” although its price target of $51/share although this is more or less level with its current price of $51.12.

JP Morgan has also focused on Altice USA where there are “solid fundamentals” and the bank gives it an “Overweight” rating and a price target of $40, which is some 17 per cent up on its current value.

However, JP Morgan does not see a merger happening between Dish Network and DirecTV, and doesn’t expect significant wireless announcements from Dish in the near future.