UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Reiterates Market Perform Rating, Lowers PT on CDI Corp. on 4Q12 EPS

In a report published Wednesday, BMO Capital Markets reiterated its Market Perform rating on CDI Corp. CDI, but slightly lowered its price target from $19.00 to $18.00. BMO Capital Markets noted, “While trends continue to reflect a slow growth environment, management believes some pent-up demand from reduced spending in 2H12 will help the company achieve annual revenue growth in 2013, though 1Q13 revenue is expected to be down y/y. Management said roughly 10% of this business is tied to US defense spending, which could be affected by the March 1 sequester, but had no further detail. While operating leverage is slowly moving in the right direction, mix toward lower gross margin business is offsetting this somewhat, though we expect higher operating profit in 2013. Management also mentioned it is seeking acquisitions to enter new solutions specialties.” CDI Corp. closed on Tuesday at $16.82.