UPDATE: Citi Downgrades Vera Bradley; Lowers PT

According to a research report published this morning, Citi has downgraded Vera Bradley

from Buy to Neutral, and lowered PT from $48 to $24. Citi mentioned in the report, "We cont. to believe in the long-term sustainability of product & differentiated growth prospects across channels but are lowering our rating to Neutral (from Buy) with $24 price target as we believe stock may not go higher in near-term given: work through of inventory in indirect channel, high 4Q EPS growth need to make FY guidance (we model +34%), cannibalization risk as indirect still remains a large percentage of total (~50%), and decelerating comp store sales (but still +DD on 2-yr stack we acknowledge). Key controversy overhang: can VRA manage to grow in Indirect while expanding direct through new stores, new dept stores, & eComm." Vera Bradley is currently trading at $20.69.