PayPal Shares Jump 1.6% Premarket After Monness Crespi Upgrades To Buy

PayPal Holdings Inc. shares rose 1.6% in premarket trade Tuesday, after Monness Crespi Hardt upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. "We've wanted to turn positive on PayPal for a while," analysts wrote in a note. "While this may not be the perfect price to pull the trigger, we like the risk-reward at these levels." PayPal has a few tailwinds at the moment, including an improving regulatory environment, the potential for more deals with issuers and the continued trend for a cashless society, said the note. While PayPal's business model relies on being able to strike deals, "the ability to deliver outsized growth versus peers off this large of a base, while trading at a discount, deserves constructive scrutiny," said the note. PayPal has a 50% higher growth rate than card networks and is trading at a 5% discount, according to Monness Crespi Hardt. Analysts set a $50 price target for the stock, or about 27% above its closing level Friday.