First Data stock gains after BTIG raises price target on debt reduction
Shares of First Data Corp. are up 0.5% in Friday trading after BTIG analyst Mark Palmer raised his price target on the stock to $27 from $23. "We continue to view deleveraging as the primary driver of shareholder value for FDC in the medium-term as the company's ample free cash flow should enable it to meet management's target of reducing its net leverage ratio from 5.8x at March 31, a level more in line with its peers' leverage ratios," Palmer wrote. He thinks the company's recently reinstated medium-term revenue outlook looks "relatively easy to achieve and likely conservative" given the trajectory of the company's fast-growing products and services. Shares of First Data are up 18% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has risen 14%.
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