Piper Jaffray Maintains Neutral On Aeropostale (ARO)

Piper Jaffray is maintaining its Neutral rating and $24 price target on shares of Aeropostale, Inc. ARO after it reported earnings after the bell yesterday.

In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "We are reiterating our Neutral rating on ARO following the company's FQ4 results. FQ4 sales increased 5% on a (3%) comp and EPS came in at $0.95. Management detailed essentially the same product concerns and opportunities for growth as in prior quarters: continue to refine womens, increase mens, incorporate more fashion into the brand as well as growth in international and domestic new store openings (30 Aero and 20 P.S. by Aero) and e-commerce. As the company issued lower guidance for FQ1 and FY12 EPS, we maintain our Neutral rating but are raising our multiple from 9x to 10x in anticipation of LDD growth in FY13."

Shares of ARO are down $1.83 in pre-market trading to $22.80, a loss of 7.4%.