Piper Jaffray Reiterates Neutral Rating, $27 PT on Zumiez

In a report published Wednesday, Piper Jaffray & Co. reiterated its Neutral rating and $27.00 price target on Zumiez (NASDAQ: ZUMZ).Piper Jaffray noted, “We are maintaining our Neutral rating on ZUMZ shares following meetings with executive management. We believe near-term sales and margin fluctuations, category mix shift, and slowing store unit growth are fairly balanced with compelling longer-term revenue opportunities tied to e-commerce/multi-channel and international markets. Despite the fact that Zumiez' e-commerce & international opportunities are, in our view, on par with multi-year catalysts identified by peer group retailers, ZUMZ shares have commanded a premium (16x) to the group multiple (12x) owing to above average comp & sq ft growth. We will continue to monitor these trends closely, as we believe that should comp sales rates moderate to a sustained +lsd to +msd range and domestic sq ft growth paces at +msd levels from +hsd/+ldd previously, the multiple could contract.”Zumiez closed on Tuesday at $26.68.