Coinstar Retains $88 Price Target and 4 Media Titans Making Waves

AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL): AOL, Inc.’s local Patch unit has added two new executives to their roster: Leigh Zarelli Lewis, who will join Head of Strategy and Business Development, and Jim Lipuma, who will run United States sales. Lewis most recently was the Vice President of Emerging Businesses at Disney and has also worked at IAC. Lipuma was most recently the head of sales at Restaurant.com and has also worked at Monster.com and R.H. Donnelley.

Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR): In a report published today, Wedbush Securities reiterated their Outperform rating and $88.00 price target on Coinstar, Inc. Wedbush noted, “We expect results to exceed our estimates for revenue of $575 million, compared to consensus of $561 million and guidance of $550 – 575 million, and for earnings per share of $1.25 as compared to the consensus of $1.16 and guidance of $1.09 – 1.24. Third quarter guidance implies a revenue growth of 18 – 24%, which appears conservative given the 20% price increase for standard DVD rentals implemented in the fourth quarter of 2011, kiosk growth (we estimate 16% y-o-y), and Netflix attrition (an estimated 0.59 – 0.89 million DVD subs lost during the third quarter). Further, we estimate solid box office for third quarter DVD releases that are up 9%, despite an impact from the Olympics.”

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Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE:TWC): Time Warner Cable Inc. has yet to reach major distribution deals with DirecTV, Dish, Verizon, AT&T, Cox and Charter. The lone agreement in place is with Bright House Networks. This is little consolation to those hard  hitting sports bars or for those who are searching for friends with access for their Lakers fix. It was already a difficult pill to swallow for those without basic cable as Lakers games were no longer a “free” broadcast. At least in the KCAL era, away games were available on network television. Now, even those happy to pay are out of the mix unless they have Time Warner Cable (or Bright House) as their direct provider.

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA): Comcast Corporation traded up 0.19% today, hitting $37.02. Comcast has a 52-week low of $20.90 and a 52-week high of $37.60. The company has a market cap of $99.059 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24.

News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA): Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. denied that  they have held talks to acquire the Los Angeles Times or Chicago Tribune once the newspapers’ owner, Tribune Co., emerges from bankruptcy. “Reports that News Corp. is in discussions with the Tribune or the L.A. Times are wholly inaccurate,” Julie Henderson, a spokeswoman for the New York-based media company, said in an emailed statement yesterday. The denial encompassed reported talks with the Tribune’s creditors.

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