• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, August 12, 2014

TubeMogul’s joint book-running managers for its iPO -- BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and RBC Capital Markets -- have all initiated coverage on TubeMogul stock (TUBE), as have BMO Capital Markets and Oppenheimer, which served as co-managers of the IPO.

BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage of TubeMogul with a “Market Perform” rating and a $10 target price. RBC Capital gave TubeMogul a “Sector Perform” rating and $11 price target. Oppenheimer is most bullish, giving it an “Outperform” rating at a $14 price target. Citigroup and BofA Merrill Lynch both gave TubeMogul a “Buy” rating, per American Banking News.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Daniel Salmon wrote in a note initiating coverage of TubeMogul: “The perpetual question for an ad tech business is what differentiates it.” He adds that TubeMogul has three unique characteristics, in that it is a pure-play platform for video advertising, has both managed and self-service options and has a focus on brands, with the focus on brands being where BMO “find[s] TubeMogul most differentiated versus other ad tech vendors.”

“However, take rates for both Platform Direct [self-service] and Platform Services [managed services] should continue to fall (as we expect them to do for all ad tech vendors) as competition remains fierce in the space,” BMO warns.

At press time, shares of TubeMogul were trading at $9.30, down just over 5% on the day. Shares closed at $9.80 on Monday.