UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Reiterates Neutral Rating, Raises PT for New York & Company

In a company note published earlier today, Piper Jaffray & Co. reiterated its Neutral rating for New York & Company, Inc.

and slightly raised its price target from $3.00 to $4.00. Piper Jaffray said it made its decisions “following the company's FQ1 report. Although same-store sales were down 2.9% in FQ1, it appears that a trend-right bottoms assortment and conservative inventory buys have been successful in turning gross margin around, as FQ1 gross margin was above management's guidance. FQ2 guidance calls for gross margin 150-250 bps above our prior estimate. Longer-term, we believe management is continuing to make progress on its turnaround and that New York & Co. could be a high-single-digit operating margin business at some point, however we remain on the sidelines for now in view of negative same-store sales and a still-struggling moderate-income consumer.” New York & Company, Inc. closed yesterday at $3.37.