Sept 25 (Reuters) - UBS upgraded five U.S. airlines including UAL Corp to 'buy' from 'neutral' and said that due to the recent flurry of capital raises, the balance sheets of these companies will be flush with new cash.
'The rally in the US airline stocks and the appetite for airline secondary issuances has meant that more capital is available to the airlines than we modelled a quarter ago. Therefore near-term bankruptcy risk has diminished in our view,' analyst Kevin Crissey wrote in a note to clients.
The analyst also upgraded AMR Corp, Continental Airlines, Alaska Air and US Airways Group Inc .
'Our top pick is UAL Corp as we believe it has the greatest leverage to an economic and corporate travel recovery,' the analyst said and raised his price target on UAL's stock to $15.00 from $6.50.
(Reporting by Divya Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott) Keywords: AIRLINES/RESEARCH UBS (divya.sharma@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: divya.sharma.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'The rally in the US airline stocks and the appetite for airline secondary issuances has meant that more capital is available to the airlines than we modelled a quarter ago. Therefore near-term bankruptcy risk has diminished in our view,' analyst Kevin Crissey wrote in a note to clients.
The analyst also upgraded AMR Corp, Continental Airlines, Alaska Air and US Airways Group Inc .
'Our top pick is UAL Corp as we believe it has the greatest leverage to an economic and corporate travel recovery,' the analyst said and raised his price target on UAL's stock to $15.00 from $6.50.
(Reporting by Divya Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott) Keywords: AIRLINES/RESEARCH UBS (divya.sharma@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: divya.sharma.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
© 2009 AFX News
