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Updated: 21-Nov-23 09:58 ET |
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| 09:58 ET |
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| Premier Financial initiated with a Market Perform at Hovde Group; tgt $23:
. Hovde Group initiates PFC with a Market Perform and price target of $23. Analyst Nick Cucharale commented, "We are initiating coverage on Premier Financial Corp., an $8.6 billion in asset institution based in Defiance, Ohio. Concurrent with the publication of this report, we are establishing 2023, 2024 and 2025 operating EPS estimates of $2.50, $2.31 and $2.46, respectively, which compares to consensus at $2.47, $2.23 and $2.41... Already a solidly profitable institution in the Midwest, Premier has recruited talent to add capacity and drive the loan portfolio towards a higher allocation to C&I. Currently at a 16% weighting, we sense the Company is targeting a longer-term goal of 25%. With the larger regionals in the marketplace ceding share, we see a strong opportunity for a nimble player like Premier." |
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| 09:58 ET |
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| Boot Barn Holdings initiated with a Buy at B. Riley Securities; tgt $92:
. B. Riley Securities initiates BOOT with a Buy and price target of $92. Analyst Jeff Lick said, "With its 370 stores in 44 states and $1.7B in revenue, BOOT is the largest player, with only ~5% market share, in the fragmented $40B U.S. footwear, western, work, outdoor living apparel, and accessories market. In our view, the BOOT story is a throwback to the days of a proven category-killing concept consolidating a large, attractive, fragmented market with no existing national player. BOOT possesses a proven business model with a cohesive, experienced management team and the opportunity for a decade of low-double-digit annual square-footage growth ahead. According to our estimates, this square-footage growth opportunity, coupled with BOOT's margin-expanding private brand strategy, should yield double-digit compounding annual revenue, EBITDA, and free cash flow growth for the next decade. We believe the combination of BOOT's substantial future free cash flow generation and management's proven discipline and execution ability will ultimately lead to meaningful out-year share repurchases that will likely drive EPS growth in excess of EBITDA growth. We estimate that BOOT could generate more than $15/share in EPS, or greater than three times today's level, in eight to nine years. We recommend long-term, growth-oriented investors saddle up on this rare throwback raw square-footage growth story that currently is valued at 8x our next-12-months EBITDA estimate." |
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| 09:58 ET |
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| C3.ai upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer; tgt $40:
. Analyst Timothy Horan added, "Upgrading C3.ai to Outperform from Perform with a $40 PT, or 10.0x FY25E FV/ revenue. Our FY23-24E revenue is intact, 1% and 4% above consensus, respectively. Our 6/29/23 initiation was positive on C3.ai's long-term growth opportunity, but neutral on the stock. Since then, C3.ai has reset guidance, worked through a model transition to usage-based, and shown real-world customer benefits. AI stock has underperformed by 20% since mid-June, while revenue growth accelerates (0.1% in F4Q23 to 23%E in F2Q24, reporting 12/6). The "AI" theme is real and durable, with C3.ai well-positioned as one of the few pure plays helping customers drive new revenue sources/major productivity improvements; should accelerate growth into '25E." |
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