Liberty Media Shares Near Full Valuation; Wunderlich Drops Rating To Hold

Wunderlich has cut Liberty Media Group (NASDAQ: LMCA) to Hold from Buy on valuation following its deal to buy Formula One.

"We remain ardent F1 acquisition enthusiasts, given Liberty's knowledge of the global sports biz, but feel that its stock price already largely reflects intermediate F1 upside," analyst Matthew Harrigan wrote in a note.

"Target NAV for what will be Formula One Group is $31; however NAV using $4.447 billion deal equity valuation is just in the $22.50 vicinity, or $23.50 ignoring corporate expense. This implies just 6 percent target equity upside, which coupled with the rapid 34 percent price gain since the 9.07 deal announcement, makes us disinclined to chase the stock at current levels," Harrigan continued.

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Meanwhile, Liberty CEO Greg Maffei recently cited new sponsorship and growth in venue count opportunities. Geographically, there is major upside from increasing the sports popularity in the Americas and Asia.

"We expect new Chairman Chase Carey to totally focus on building the fan base, especially eventual direct to consumer digital distribution, increasing the race calendar, and introducing new partners. There are also prospects from working off Liberty's broad array of media relationships, including Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV)," Harrigan added.

Harrigan also raised the price target to $31 from $25.50, while the shares closed Friday's trading at $29.15.