Charter ‘s debt structure and growing sports segments should give it a leg up on competitors, according to Wells Fargo. The bank upgraded shares of the telecommunications company to overweight from overweight on Friday and lifted its price target to $550 from $450. This points to a potential 23% gain from the Thursday’s close. While higher prices and the rising popularity of streaming services have plagued the cable industry in recent years, Charter’s stock has rallied 31.8% this year. Rival Comcast is also up 30.7% since January. Meanwhile Altice , AT & T and Verizon have respectively plunged 26.5%, 16.8% and 15.5%, respectively. CHTR YTD mountain Charter ytd chart Charter’s more favorable capital structure and its growing sports content – which should improve its streaming market share in the long term – are two reasons why analyst Steven Cahall prefers Charter stock over Comcast. “The worst of Cable is behind it, and CHTR is the clearest expression of the new normal,” he wrote. “It has a strong converged bundle with Spectrum One, stable net adds due to its expansion in rural and a more aggressive video posture with programmers. “Overall we find CHTR to be the most compelling grower in Cable as it’s above peers in passings growth, which should mean more sub growth longer-term,” Cahall said. — Michael Bloom contributed to this report Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
