First Data stock rises after analysts cheer investor day commentary

Shares of First Data Corp. are up 3.3% in Wednesday morning trading following a flurry of upbeat analysts notes concerning the company's recent investor day. Mizuho analyst Thomas McCrohan raised his price target to $25 from $21, citing "potential for sustained higher growth rates in GBS North America organic revenue, in addition to the longer term prospects for a recovery within the JV channel as well as First Data's ongoing deleveraging effort." GBS refers to the company's global business solutions segment. He's also optimistic about the company's Clover business and CardConnect/BluePay acquisitions, though those have a longer time frame. Bernstein analyst Harshita Rawat raised her target price to $24 from $22, writing that she thinks "investors will continue to come from the sidelines" due in part to "visible signs of operational turnaround" and a strong trajectory for the Clover business. Clover products rival those from Square Inc. First Data shares are up 17% in the past year, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.