UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Lowering Price Target On Echelon

Piper Jaffray is out with a research report on Echelon Corporation ELON and is lowering its price target to $9.50 from $10, but is keeping its Neutral rating on shares. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "We expect ELON shares to move higher today after the company reported better-than-expected 2Q results and provided upbeat guidance driven by AMI shipments to Duke and Fortum. International diversification remains a key focus, highlighted by a recent agreement to supply components to Chinese-metering company Holley, though the timing and magnitude of contribution from new markets remain unclear. We are lifting our estimates, but would note that growth in '12 is likely to moderate against tough comparisons. Our target moves to $9.50 from $10 as the risk/reward profile remains balanced." Shares of ELON lost 17 cents yesterday to close at $7.93, a loss of 2.1%.