Discovery Communications Downgraded To Underperform

Shares of Discovery Communications Inc. fell 2.3% in premarket trade Tuesday after the stock was downgraded to underperform from market-perform at Bernstein Research, on concerns the company is overleveraged. While there are positives and negatives about Discovery's competitive positioning, and analyst Todd Juenger said he still believes the business has "many attractive elements," he said an analysis of the company revealed that it's a "clear underperform." The company has borrowed a lot of money and strayed "well off-brand over the past couple of years" without improving ratings, he said. Juenger reduced his 12-month target price on the stock to $23 from $29. Shares of Discovery have declined by more than 16% over the last 12 months, underperforming a 0.8% increase for the S&P 500.

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