Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Stock | Despite analyst's downgrade, GCI jumps 7%

Gannett's stock closed sharply higher today, even as a Wall Street analyst reduced his price target on the company's shares to $9.75 from $10.75.

GCI ended the day at $9.81, up 65 cents, or 7%. Most other newspaper publisher shares rose, too, as the overall market closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153 points, or 1.4%, to 10,809, and the S&P 500 jumped 2.3%.

Citi analyst Leo Kulp kept a "hold" rating on GCI's stock with his downgrade, the Associated Press said this afternoon.

Kulp also reduced his target on McClatchy shares to $1.35 from $2. MNI shares closed at $1.33, up 5.6%.

But he said he expected shares of the New York Times Co. to outperform industry peers because the company is less exposed to declining ad revenue from retailers such as department stores and electronics shops. He rated the stock a "buy," with a $7 target. NYT shares closed at $6.03, or 6.4% higher.

Kulp's advice followed a similar downgrade last month, when investment bank UBS lowered its price target to $10 from $14 after cutting its growth projection for the print advertising industry.

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