Piper Jaffray Maintains a 'Neutral' on Hibbett Sports (HIBB); Raises PT & Estimates After Recent Channel Checks

October 19, 2009 12:42 PM EDT

Piper Jaffray & Co. maintains a 'Neutral' rating on Hibbett Sports (Nasdaq: HIBB), price target raised to $23.

Piper analyst says, "Our channel checks reveal broad industry strength in sporting goods as of late with categories such as active apparel, team sports products, and footwear showing strong sequential improvement from Q2 to Q3. Recall, HIBB stated Q3 as of August 21 was running negative LSD. We believe sales picked up as HIBB got closer to Labor Day and remained healthy through the quarter so far. Also, weather has turned sharply colder y/y in several key HIBB states such at KS, KY, MO, OH,and OK which, in conjunction with the ongoing introduction of North Face jackets into more new stores, could provide some ongoing sales benefit through the end of the quarter and into Q4. As a result, we are increasing our Q3 comp estimate from -3% to -1%. We are also increasing our EPS estimate to $0.26, which is above the current consensus mean of $0.23...We are increasing our F10 (C09) EPS estimate to $0.96, which is slightly above the $0.85-$0.95 guidance range. Additionally, we are increasing our F11 EPS estimate to $1.15, representing EPS growth of 20% next year."

To see more analyst ratings on HIBB Click Here.

Hibbett Sports, Inc. operates sporting goods retail stores in small to mid-sized markets primarily in the southeast, southwest, Mid-Atlantic, and lower Midwest regions of the United States.

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