UPDATE: Gabelli Upgrades Empire District Electric to Buy

Gabelli is out with its report today on Empire District Electric EDE, upgrading EDE from Hold to Buy. In a note to clients, Gabelli writes, "We have raised our rating on shares of Empire District Electric (to BUY, from Hold. Shares declined 15% yesterday following the announcement of a second half 2011 dividend suspension and near-term loss of electric load due to anticipated extended customer outages. While multiples are relatively high on our revised and depressed 2011 and 2012 earnings, we consider the current share price to represent solid value relative to more normal 2013 earnings. EDE shares trade at 11.5X our 2013 earnings estimate of $1.65 per share, which is below the peer group median of 12.8X and 120% of book value versus a peer group median of 148%. Our 2012-2013 PMV estimates are $23 and $28 per share, respectively." At the time of posting, shares of EDE were trading at $18.83, up 0.64% from Thursday's close.