FBN Securities analyst Robert Routh says Liberty SiriusXM (LSXMA, LSXMK) is his firm's top pick for 2019. The recent decline in Sirius XM's (SIRI) share price and the resulting impact on Liberty SiriusXM "should easily reverse this year," Routh tells investors in a research note. Further, the analyst believes the "unreasonable" 49.91% discount currently ascribed to Liberty SiriusXM relative to its intrinsic value should close "in the not too distant future." In addition, he thinks both Liberty SiriusXM and SiriusXM's share repurchase activity will continue and possibly accelerate in 2019. Routh also views the latter's 2019 guidance as conservative. The analyst has an Outperform rating on Liberty SiriusXM.

Citi upgraded Sirius XM (SIRI) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $3.30, down from $4.10. Over the last few months, the net asset value discount between Liberty SiriusXM (LSXMA) and Sirius XM has narrowed from 40% to 2%. To Citi's surprise, this occurred via a decline in Sirius XM's equity without appreciation in Liberty SiriusXM's value. The firm now finds the risk/reward in both securities as relatively balanced. As such, Citi upgraded Sirius XM from Sell to Neutral and downgraded Liberty SiriusXM from Buy to Neutral.

Pivotal Research upgraded Sirius XM (SIRI) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $4.90, down from $5.05. The magnitude of the decline in Sirius XM's valuation has been surprising, exacerbated by a current lack of institutional ownership and the fact most investors owned parent Liberty Sirius XM (LSXMK) to play the narrowing of the net asset value gap rather than as a way to invest in Sirius, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says this has created an attractive investment opportunity, highlighted by the 55% upside to its new target price. It views Sirius as a free cash flow acceleration story.