UPDATE: Barrington Research Initiates Coverage on Blackhawk Network as Leading Third Party Distributor & Prepaid Payment Network

In a report published Friday, Barrington Research analyst Gary Prestopino initiated coverage on

with an Outperform rating and $29.00-$31.00 price target range. In the report, Barrington Research noted, “Blackhawk is one of largest third-party distributors of gift cards and a leading prepaid payment network with over 100,000 retail distribution locations and over 500 leading consumer content providers. The Blackhawk network benefits consumers, content providers and distribution partners providing a broad selection of prepaid and gift cards in a one-stop location with expanded reach to the consumer driving store traffic and incremental high margin revenues to the retailer. The Blackhawk network has a dominant position in the grocery channel with over 20,000 locations that encompass approximately 90% of the combined grocery store locations operated by the top 50 grocery retailers in the U.S. and Canada.” Blackhawk Network closed on Thursday at $23.60.