Analyst Says MasterCard Stock Price Too High

Published on:
8 December 2006 at 06:33 a.m. ET

Written by: Unknown Author –

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00008168-analyst-says-mastercard-stock-price-too-h/

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

According to HSBC analyst Nicolas De Smet, MasterCard Inc. shares are unjustifiably more expensively than shares of fellow electronic payments processor First Data Corp. The AP story reports that De Smet is advising investors to sell MasterCard and take the profit.

?De Smet estimates the company’s shares will trade at 16 times 2006 earnings. His estimate is based on available information about Western Union and the value implied by “when-issued,” or preliminary trading, of the spun-off unit.?

MasterCard, meanwhile, trades at 24 times 2006 consensus earnings estimates, De Smet said, giving it a 50 percent premium to First Data.