Mediacom Communications (MCCC) shares are sharply higher this morning, after Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield upped his rating on the cable company’s stock to Buy from Neutral, with a price target of $8.50.

Greenfield gave two primary reasons for the upgrade:

• He says that an increase in the number of “triple-play” customers - those taking voice, video and data services - is boosting operating performance.
• He also says that competition from satellite companies has eased. He notes that in 2007 the company was under aggressive attach from the satellite sector over Mediacom’s failure to offer the Big Ten Network, but that Dish Network (DISH) has become less aggressive in its marketing efforts. Greenfield notes that the company also is not really exposed to the video buildouts of Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T).

Greenfield sees the company losing 72 cents a share this year, but rebounding to a profit of 13 cents in 2009, an estimate which is above the Street consensus of 9 cents.

MCCC today is up 52 cents, or 8.4%, to $6.73.