Sterne Agee Maintains Buy Rating On Crocs After Meeting With Company Management

Sterne Agee has published a research report on Crocs Inc. CROX after meeting with company management that revealed a well positioned company awaiting consumer's vote on new product offerings.

In the report, Sterne Agee writes "After traveling with John Mc Carvel (CEO) and Jeff Lasher (Interim CFO) we are confident that CROX has made material progress in establishing itself as a lifestyle brand. Initial sales on some of the new translucent styles that have just hit retail in limited southern markets have weekly liquidation rates exceeding 10%. We also have positive reads from the family footwear channel that just recently received some of the new spring 2011 product. It is important to note that 60% of the 1Q11 orders have a start ship date of March 15th, so the material selling periods are still ahead of us. In the past CROX has proved that, similar to its namesake, it could run quickly in short bursts. The new Translucent, Toning, Sandal, Boot collections position the company well for long term performance, and we will not know if that performance manifests itself until mid April. New Kid's color changing translucent styles are being released in a small way in late May, and could be a game changing category as we look into 2012."

Sterne Agee maintains its Buy rating and $20 price target.

Crocs closed Friday at $18.44.