Canaccord Genuity Reiterates Buy Rating, $59 PT on Dick's Sporting Goods on Q4 EPS

In a report published Monday, Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and $59.00 price target on Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS).Canaccord Genuity noted, “DKS reported Q4 EPS of $1.03 below our consensus estimate of $1.06. Relative to our model, below plan comps hurt EPS by ~6c, partially offset by a slightly better gross margin (+1c) and lower tax rate (+1c). The comp shortfall (+1.2% vs. our +4.5% estimate) was a result of an overly aggressive move to mark down cold weather outerwear gear in December, thus leaving inventories too lean in January when wintery weather finally arrived. Gross margins did surprise to the upside likely due to merchandise margins that were managed well in light of less clearance activity. Guidance for 2013 of $2.84-$2.86 on comps of 2-3% is below consensus of $2.92, but includes ~$0.12 impact from increased investment spending (e-commerce, systems, remodels, new concepts).Clearly this is a disappointing result and the stock should be down on this news, in our view. The key question from the conference call will be how much of the comp miss came from lack of inventory.”Dick's Sporting Goods closed on Friday at $50.60.