UPDATE: Morgan Keegan Raises PT to $36 on Bob Evans Farm

Morgan Keegan raises its price target on Perform-rated Bob Evans Farm

on largely in-line operating fundamentals. Morgan Keegan notes, "Last night, Bob Evans Farms reported results for its fiscal Q3:12 13-week period ended January 27th. The company reported Q3 EPS of $0.69, above our $0.62 and the street mean of $0.60. The earnings beat reflects a slightly better than projected consolidated operating margin (7.1% vs. MK 6.9%, incl. $0.02 lower SG&A) and reduced tax rate ($0.05, from state tax settlement) that offset lighter than expected total revenue ($428.3 million vs. MK $430.7 million). Encouragingly, Q3 SSS turned positive at Bob Evans to +1.6% (incl. -0.4% traffic; MK SSS 0.0%)." BOBE closed at $36.24 a share on Tuesday.