UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Raises PT to $19 on Express on Signs of Stabilization

Piper Jaffray reiterated its Overweight rating on Express EXPR and raised its price target from $15 to $19. Piper Jaffray commented, "We are reiterating our Overweight rating on EXPR shares in view of stabilizing samestore sales trends and a better-than-anticipated FQ4 outlook. Looking into next year, EXPR shares are likely to emerge as a top small-cap recovery candidate for 2013 among investors. Our longer-term confidence in Express's ability to rebound rests in 1) their iterative test-and-react process in product choices; 2) the brand's recent re-entry into the top ten rankings in our proprietary consumer behavior survey work this fall; and 3) an experienced and focused bench of management talent manifested recently in President David Kornberg's elevation." Express closed at $12.99 on Tuesday.