Citadel Upgrading Frontier Communications Corp

Citadel Securities is upgrading shares of Frontier Communications Corp (NYSE: FTR) to Add from Neutral, and it is raising its price target to $9.50 from $8.

In a note to clients, Citadel Securities writes, "We believe Frontier's integration of the Verizon properties is progressing smoothly, and the company could report that it has realized synergies of $400MM annually as of the end of 2Q - thus making its year-end target of $400MM look overly conservative. We also believe Frontier has clear visibility to achieve, and likely exceed, its eventual synergy target of $550MM. As a result, we think it is likely that Frontier could raise its synergy guidance in the near term, which should improve investor sentiment and drive upside to estimates. Our near-term and long-term estimates are modestly above the current consensus view."

Shares of FTR closed at $8.18 yesterday.