UPDATE: Canaccord Genuity Upgrades Finish Line to Buy, Raises PT Following Management Meetings

In a report published Wednesday, Canaccord Genuity analyst Camilo Lyon upgraded the rating on

from Hold to Buy, and raised the price target from $23.00 to $28.00. In the report, Canaccord Genuity noted, “We had the pleasure of hosting meetings with FINL's CFO, Ed Wilhelm, and EVP of Strategic Initiatives, Steve Schneider. Based on the improving trends in running, our increased confidence in the M partnership, and easing comparisons, we are upgrading FINL to BUY from Hold and raising our six-month target to $28. Overall, the tone of business suggests cautious optimism as new product introductions in running are helping mitigate generally soft mall traffic trends. Also, while FINL has more to learn about consumer preferences at M, it is making steady progress by tweaking both merchandise assortments and labor hours. The bottom line is we see a path to profitability coming into focus as the business stabilizes and comps subsequently re-accelerate. As such, we raised our 2013 and 2014 comp and EPS estimates resulting in our price target increase to $28.” Finish Line closed on Tuesday at $24.81.