Paramount stock rises on Bank of America upgrade, new price target

Yahoo Finance's Allie Canal reports on Bank of America upgrading Paramount Global to Buy and boosting the price to $32 per share.

Video Transcript

ALLIE CANAL: All right. Well, moving on to my play, it's Paramount Global. Shares seeing a boost today, up around 3% following an upgrade from Bank of America. Analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich upgrading shares to buy from neutral, in addition to raising her price target to 32 bucks a share, up from the prior 24. The analyst cited potential upside if Paramount were to sell all or parts of its business, writing, quote, "It is our view that Para has a unique collection of assets that would generate significant buyer interest if ever put up for sale, either in pieces or whole."

This upgrade, of course, comes amid recent reports of a potential sale of the company's BET Media Group, in addition to a reported offer of 3 billion plus for Showtime from former executive David Nevins. Paramount has long been rumored as a potential acquisition target due to its small size relative to competitors, with Ehrlich adding Nickelodeon, Paramount Studios, and CBS Networks could also be in high demand, given their strategic value. Shares were up as much as 8.4% earlier in the session and have climbed more than 25% year to date.

And guys, for me, when it comes to Paramount, it's not necessarily a question of if this is going to happen, but more so when. Obviously, this is not a great deal making environment right now, but I do think this is a company that could be very attractive to some buyers out there.

DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, the last week has been alive with conversations on BET when it comes to Sean Diddy Combs, Tyler Perry, Byron Allen all entering the bidding for that. Three media heavyweights already in on that. So I agree with you-- a matter of when, not if.