Consolidated Communications upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Citi

Citi upgraded Consolidated Communications to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $3.50, up from $2.50, after Searchlight Capital filed a non-binding proposal with the SEC for a $4 per share cash purchase of shares not already owned by Searchlight, which already holds a 34% stake, and offer partner BCI. The firm sees a 75% probability that Consolidated goes private at the offered price and does not expect competing offers given what it calls "the elevated valuation," adding that it sees a fundamental value of $2.70 per share in a no-deal scenario.