UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Lowers PT on Arkansas Best Corp. to $25 (ABFS)

Piper Jaffray is out with its report today on Arkansas Best Corp. ABFS, lowering its PT from $27 to $25. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "ABFS closed down 8.0% after a 1Q11 EPS miss reported yesterday which compared to the SPX down 0.2%. ABFS is trading at 13.0x our 2012 EPS estimates which compares to the Piper Jaffray LTL Group (ABFS, CNW, and ODFL) trading at 15.8x our 2012 EPS estimates on average. We've lowered our EPS and price target on ABFS (now $25 down from $27 which we arrive at by applying an unchanged target multiple of 14x to our $1.80 2012 EPS estimate). While we don't see further material stock downside post yesterday's results we also don't see catalysts / upside drivers moving forward considering that the company now must raise price to recoup prior contract fuel caps which likely will decelerate tonnage growth moving forward. Further, ABFS does not have a tremendous amount of operating cost flexibility and we don't see changes to its model likely. Therefore we are maintaining our Neutral rating at this time." Shares of ABFS closed Monday at $23.34, down 7.97% from Thursday's close.