Six ops get new start.(Tip Sheet)(Cable television broadcasting industry)(Brief Article)

Multichannel News, October, 2004

JB Hanauer & Co. cable analyst David Joyce initiated coverage on six cable companies, slapping a "market perform" rating on four stocks (Comcast Corp., Mediacom Communications Corp., Insight Communications Co. and Cablevision Systems Corp.); an "outperform-speculative" rating on Charter Communications Inc.; and an "underperform" rating on going-private Cox Communications Inc.

Joyce says Comcast is still the "remaining cable blue-chip," with the strongest balance sheet and the largest footprint. As for Charter, it could climb as much as 45%--toward his 12-month price target of $4--but Joyce cautions high debt levels and operational challenges have pressured the stock.