Weather & Economy Impact CTRN's 3Q

Piper Jaffray has published a research report on Citi Trends, Inc. CTRN following the company's 3Q results that showed hurt from the weather and economy. In the report, Piper Jaffray writes "We are maintaining our Neutral rating on CTRN shares following the company's FQ3 results in which comps declined (4.2%), below PJC and the Street's est. of (1%). LPS of ($0.03) was also under PJC and the Street's ($0.02) est. and the company lowered FY11 EPS guidance from $1.60-$1.70 to $1.50-$1.60. During Q3, sales trends suffered from macroeconomic issues facing CTRN's lower-income customer base and reduced the avg transaction value. While an overhaul of the CTRN store image should increase store contribution next year, we are decreasing our EPS ests and lowering our PT from $26 to $24 on 14x FY12E EPS of $1.71." Piper Jaffray maintains its Neutral rating but has lowered the price target from $26 to $24. Citi Trends closed yesterday at $24.31.