Viasat Stock Jumps on Wall Street Upgrade. What the Analyst Likes.

Viasat stock is up 320% this year. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)

Viasat stock has had an incredible year. And there’s more room to run, Raymond James said on Monday.

Analyst Brent Penter upgraded shares of the satellite communications company to Buy from Hold. His new target price is $52 a share.

Shares traded as high as $43.59, but closed at $36.98, up 3.3% on Monday. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

Through Monday trading, Viasat was up 335% year to date. Investors have been encouraged by valuations for wireless spectrum.

“We believe, despite very strong stock performance over the past roughly six months, after a rough few years since our downgrade in November 2022, there remains substantial sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) upside plus several catalysts,” wrote Penter.

For example, Viasat is thinking of spinning off its defense business, and it’s launching more communications satellites.

Plus, the company’s wireless spectrum assets are “extremely valuable,” Penter added.

“Particularly the 68 megahertz of global mobile satellite services L-Band spectrum…in an environment where Direct-to-Device constellations are garnering significant attention and investment,” he wrote.

Companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX are putting satellites into low-Earth orbit with the ability to deliver broadband connectivity to homes and even phones—from space.

SpaceX signed an agreement with EchoStar in September to buy spectrum licenses in a deal valued at some $17 billion.

Overall, 50% of analysts covering Viasat rate shares Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. About 33% rated shares Buy at the start of the year.

The average analyst price target for Viasat is about $33, up from about $22 at the start of this year.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com