Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms in the last week:

  • Yahoo! is now covered by analysts at Jefferies Group. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, “Today, Yahoo! announced that it completed the first phase of its previously announced Alibaba Group monetization plan. The company received $4.3B in after-tax proceeds in cash and an $800M preferred stock with a 10% coupon for half its stake.”
  • Yahoo! ‘s EPS estimates were raised by analysts at ThinkEquity. They now have a “hold” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock.
  • Yahoo! had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Zacks. They now have a $17.00 price target on the stock. Zacks‘ analyst wrote, “Yahoo! Inc. is one of the leading providers of web-based services and advertisements. Second quarter earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Yahoo’s search business faces extremely tough competition from Google and Microsoft’s ad platform is not generating enough just yet. We are encouraged by the refocusing of the company, the many product upgrades and growth initiatives implemented, which are improving engagement on Yahoo properties. However, Yahoo is not one of our favorite plays in the space, given the uncertainty surrounding the search business, deterioration of display ad revenue share and its limited progress in the fast-growing mobile search segment. Reiterate Neutral.”
  • Yahoo! had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JPMorgan Chase. They now have a $19.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $18.00. They wrote, “Yahoo! shares have a low valuation (currently ~1x 2013E EBITDA) and we are encouraged by the recent monetization of half of Yahoo!’s stake in Alibaba Group along with subsequent share repurchases. We believe the deal is value creating when factoring in share buybacks, but Yahoo!’s core business remains challenged as the company is losing share of display advertising and has not yet been able to realize any material benefits from its search outsourcing deal with Microsoft. Accordingly, it is possible that new CEO Mayer will lower the bar for estimates over the next few quarters as Yahoo! improves site quality and invests more in the business. Further Asian asset monetization remains critical to the story, but we believe investors are looking for progress in the core business to truly re-visit the stock.”
  • Yahoo! had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America from $17.00 to $18.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. They wrote, “The Alibaba transaction completion, return of capital announcement, and a higher-than-expected valuation for Alibaba modestly increase Yahoo’s valuation and are a net positive given our concern that Alibaba capital would be used for acquisitions. The deal also increases our confidence that the Yahoo board is more shareholder friendly. However, the next increase in asset value is only modestly incremental to the stock value and we think new CEO Marissa Mayer will still invest in growth initiatives in 2013, adding near-term investment spending risk. We are maintaining our Neutral rating and increasing our fair value for the company to $18 from $17 on higher asset value.”
  • Yahoo! had its “equalweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Barclays Capital.

Shares of Yahoo! Inc. opened at 15.86 on Thursday. Yahoo! Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.11 and a 52 week high of $16.79. The company has a market cap of $18.788 billion and a P/E ratio of 17.93.

Yahoo! Inc. (Yahoo!) is a digital media company. Through the Company’s technology and insights, Yahoo! delivers digital content and experiences, across devices and globally.