Wells Fargo Downgrades Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) to Market Perform; Valuation Call

Wells Fargo downgraded Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY) from Outperform to Market Perform, price target range $30-35 from $28-30.

Analyst, Timothy Willi, said, "While it was a strong quarter with the story playing out even better than we had expected, we are downgrading our rating entirely due to valuation. The quarterly performance clearly illustrated improved momentum on the top line that in conjunction with strong margin expansion drove EPS of $0.34, which handily beat our est/Cons of $0.21/$0.34. That being said, we believe shares reflect the expectation of a continuation of strong performance throughout 2012 and 2013 as we believe management has regained credibility and rebuilt confidence in the underlying business model."

"Our new revenue/EPS estimates for 2012 are $540MM/$1.44, up from $536MM/$1.35 with 2013E now at $582MM/$1.73 up from $581MM/$1.59."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Heartland Payment Systems click here. For more ratings news on Heartland Payment Systems click here.

Shares of Heartland Payment Systems closed at $32.53 yesterday.

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Wells Fargo Downgrades Roku Inc. (ROKU) to Equal Weight
• Solar Industries (SOIL:IN) PT Raised to INR23,500 at ICICI Securities
• Stantec Inc. (STN:CN) (STN) PT Lowered to Cdn$169 at Desjardins