Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of three cannabis businesses on Friday, with Verano Holdings Corp. drawing an overweight rating while Planet 13 Holdings Inc. and Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc. were started at neutral.
Verano VRNOF offers “some of the highest operating cash flow metrics” among multistate cannabis operators , along with Green Thumb Industries Inc. GTBIF , and has one of the strongest balance sheets in the group, analyst Pablo Zuanic said. Ascend Wellness AAWH drew a neutral rating and a $1.75 price target for its stock, which closed Thursday at $1.35 a share.
On the downside, Zuanic sees challenges for Ascend Wellness’s dispensaries in Illinois, because two of its eight stores in the state are near St. Louis, which is opening up competing adult-use stores now that Missouri has voted to legalize cannabis.
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