UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Lowering Price Target On Kirkland's

Piper Jaffray is out with a research report on Kirkland's, Inc. KIRK and is lowering its price target to $10 from $12, and it has a Neutral rating on shares. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "We are reiterating our Neutral rating on KIRK shares and lowering our price target from $12 to $10 following the company's FQ2 report in which same-store sales were down 8%, below management's guidance for a mid-single-digit decline (given on 5/20/11). We expect KIRK shares to remain range-bound for the foreseeable future, as a slow recovery in moderate-income discretionary spending means any meaningful improvement in gross margin likely won't occur until late 2012 or later. We are nonetheless encouraged to see that KIRK's board authorized $40 million in share repurchases over the next 18 months." Shares of KIRK gained 46 cents on Friday to close at $8.82, a gain of 5.5%.