UPDATE: Stifel Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on Universal Truckload Services Following Aerospace Contract Loss

In a report published Monday, Stifel analyst John Larkin reiterated a Buy rating on Universal Truckload Services UACL, and raised the price target from $32.00 to $33.00. In the report, Stifel noted, “The company lost a nice contract with an aerospace customer due to the federal government's budgetary sequestration and another customer decided to take the labor content of a contract in-house. In the case of the aerospace customer, the work could return if the sequestration were to be lifted. In the second case, the company will continue to provide support in the form of strategy, tactics, and systems. The net effect of these changes would tend to weigh on the company's 4Q13 EPS power and could set up a scenario where quarterly EPS are flat to slightly down sequentially relative to the 3Q13. We had the low 4Q13 EPS estimate on the street at $0.45. The mean 4Q13 EPS estimate had been $0.48 prior to the call.” Universal Truckload Services closed on Friday at $27.97.