NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares ofLiberty Media (LMCA - Get Report)are down 0.59% to $39.62 in afternoon trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a "hold" rating and a $43 price target.

"Our price target only implies 7% upside, which we find to be too limited, but we do point out that Liberty and its related companies have historically created significant value through making wise investments, effective capital allocation, financial engineering and tax structuring," Deutsche Bank noted about the media company.

This potential but limited upside comes from two sources, a narrowing of the net asset value (NAV) discount to 7.5% from an estimated 12% and the upside implied by the price targets for Time Warner (TWX) ($100) and Viacom (VIAB) ($83), the firm's analysts estimate.

Last year, Liberty attempted to merge with SiriusXM (SIRI), analysts said, adding that "Liberty Media has said it would consider another merger proposal under the right circumstances, and we see narrowing the NAV discount as the key to this."

Liberty Mediafocuses on the media, communications and entertainment industries through its ownership of interests in subsidiaries and other companies.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates LIBERTY MEDIA CORP as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate LIBERTY MEDIA CORP (LMCA) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, expanding profit margins and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

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Here's a Reason Liberty Media (LMCA) Stock is Slumping Today