Investors could benefit from the discount in L3Harris Technologies shares relative to its defense technology peers, according to Wells Fargo. The bank upgraded the defense technology stock to overweight from equal weight in a Monday note, accompanied by a $209 price target, up from $204. Wells Fargo’s forecast implies 21% upside from Friday’s $172.72 close. L3Harris Technologies stock has slipped more than 17% from the start of the year. LHX YTD mountain L3Harris Technologies stock. “We think LHX’s portfolio lends itself to growth at least in-line with its defense peers over the coming years, while the stock trades at a significant discount,” analyst Matthew Akers wrote in a report. The analyst added that estimates have likely bottomed for L3, and that a government shutdown has typically benefited defense stocks. “Shutdown fears could provide an attractive entry point near-term,” Akers noted. “Prior shutdowns have been short (generally < 1mo) and had little if any impact on defense company profits. Historically, the first few days of a shutdown were great times to buy defense, with the stocks outperforming the market by ~400 bps in the following month on average,” he wrote. Specific catalysts for L3 include earnings estimates moving higher as a result of the incorporation of the recently acquired AerojetRocketdyne, a December investor day highlighting new long-term targets and the sale of “non-core assets” that will help pay down debt. In the same report, Akers also upgraded Lockheed Martin to equal weight from underweight, and left his price target at $440. Price targets were lowered on General Dynamics , Northrop Grumman , Raytheon , Booz Allen Hamilton , CACI International and Leidos Holdings . Wells’ upgrade of L3 Harris on Monday follows Citigroup initiating research coverage with a buy rating . — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
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