WH Smith rises after Peel Hunt rating upgrade to 'Buy'

** Shares of travel retailer WH Smith SMWH up 4% at 702 p , among top gainers on London's mid caps index MCX

** Peel Hunt upgrades rating to "Buy" from "Hold", raises PT to 800 p from 755 p

** Brokerage says the company's underlying assets in the UK and the rest of the world keep generating high returns, especially with SMWH expanding past travel items in the UK

** "WH Smith has questions to answer in the U.S., but its travel businesses

elsewhere are high class and very valuable, especially in the UK"- Peel Hunt analysts say

** While confident about the company's growth in the UK and Europe, brokerage notes that in the US, SMWH's margins have been impacted due to accounting difficulties

** 4 of the 11 analysts covering the stock have a "Buy" or higher rating, and 7 have "Hold"; median PT is 715 p - data compiled by LSEG

** Up to Thursday's close, the stock had fallen 43.23% so far this year