Analysts at Stifel Resume Coverage of eBay With A Hold Rating

On Tuesday, Scott Devitt of Stifel resumed coverage of eBay EBAY with a Hold rating and $57 price target. “We applaud eBay management's successful turnaround of the business and re-positioning of the company as an eCommerce partner to traditional retailers and merchants,” Devitt wrote. Devitt further adds that eBay is considered to be “the world's largest online marketplace,” with over 150 million active accounts. Combined with a long term Enabled Commerce Volume (ECV) of over $229 billion and a leading payments platform, eBay is “a key long term partner to retailers in their transition to multi-channel distribution.” Despite the long-term bullish view, a lack of imminent catalysts is keeping Devitt on the sidelines. “Our neutral view rests on our belief that potential benefits stemming from eBay's position as a partner to traditional retailers will develop over the long term,” Devitt argues. In the near term, Devitt sees limited opportunity to fuel revenue growth, especially with increased competition from both large and nice eCommerce players. PayPal remains a “bright spot” for the company, according to Devitt. However, the analyst prefers at this time to utilize a “wait-and-see stance” on eBay's opportunity in offline payments. Looking forward, Devitt is projecting eBay will grow revenues at a 14 percent compounded annual growth rate through 2016, starting with $18.1 billion in revenue in fiscal 2014.