Investors Buy Deckers Shares Following Canaccord Upgrade

Shares of Deckers Outdoor Corp

, maker of the popular UGG boots, were up nearly three percent Tuesday afternoon following a bullish early-morning report from Canaccord Genuity's Camilo Lyon. The analyst upgraded Deckers from Hold to Buy and boosted the price target from $55 to $80. Lyon sees positive trends this season, suggesting the replacement cycle for UGGs is well underway. The combination of cautious inventory purchasing and lean retail inventories along with consumers replacing older boots could cause re-orders to accelerate relatively early in the season. The Canaccord analyst believes Deckers is well positioned to take advantage of this increased demand. The company is one of the few footwear manufacturers to have inventory on hand to meet intra-quarter demand, while most other cold weather brands have tightly managed their inventory in accordance with retailers' cautious ordering patterns, according to Lyon. Promising international expansion plans are also driving Lyon's Buy recommendation. He noted the company will be launching its “I Heart UGG” line of lower-priced boots made of UGG Pure in the fall. The line will be aimed at the younger consumer in key Asian markets such as China. Lyon believes this is a strategically sound decision and should help Deckers capture the consumer who may have been priced out of the brand in recent years.