BMO Capital raised its price target on Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB) to $44.00 (from $35.00) while maintaining a Market Perform rating.

Analyst Daniel Salmon comments "We like the vision, as did investors, with shares up 4% today. But as a testament to our view that efforts will take time to bear fruit, we make no changes to our EPS estimates. Splitting the networks into flagship/support groups makes sense in theory but strengthening distribution opportunities will be a work in progress. While the film financing deal de-risks Paramount, it limits upside too and as CEO Bakish noted in a CNBC interview it will likely be a few years before the segment is profitable again."