UPDATE: Benchmark Company Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on 1-800-FLOWERS.com Following Meetings

In a report published Wednesday, Benchmark Company analyst Daniel L. Kurnos reiterated a Buy rating on 1-800-FLOWERS.com FLWS, and raised the price target from $6.50 to $8.00. In the report, Benchmark Company noted, “We recently hosted 1-800-FLOWERS.com (FLWS-Buy) in Philadelphia. We believe Flowers should be able to sustain recent operating momentum by capitalizing on three distinct areas of opportunity: 1) Increasing eCommerce sales in traditionally retail channels; 2) Increasing non-floral brand recognition and improving cross-selling capabilities; 3) Expanding brand penetration including pursuing immediate adjacent markets. We think Flowers has concrete plans in place to address all of the above, potentially leading to incremental growth beyond the expected mid-single digit revenue and double-digit cash flow growth, which excludes any material improvement in the domestic economy. Given what we view as a sustainable and positively evolving business model, and given the recent increase in our calculated implied multiple for FTD (UNTD-Buy) to 8.5x, we believe a CY13E multiple of 9x EV/EBITDA is fair, resulting in an increase in our price target from $6.50 to $8.” 1-800-FLOWERS.com closed on Tuesday at $6.60.