UPDATE: Barclays Upgrades Pier 1 Imports; Raises Price Target and EPS

In a note released Tuesday, Barclays Upgraded Pier 1 Imports PIR from Equal-weight to Overweight, raised the price target from $19 to $23, and raised 2014E and 2015E EPS from $1.23 to $1.25 and EPS from $1.45 to $1.50 respectively. In addition to this, Barclays is estimating an 8-9 percent share buyback. Analyst Alan M. Rifkin described the firms position on Pier 1 stating it's, "A compelling buying opportunity, with a unique combination of top-line momentum (+9% in 2014E),e-comm penetration (estimated to be 8% in 2014E vs. 5% in 4Q13) and EBIT margin expansion (+90 bps in 2014E)." To support the idea of top-line growth Rifkin noted four factors:

1. E-comm investments have likely peaked
2. A sequential acceleration in comps is highly likely
3. Merchandising strategy remains on track
4. attractive housing industry fundamentals in 2014-15/OL> At last check, Pier 1 was trading up just over three percent for the session.