Piper Jaffray Maintains Overweight, $32 PT on Express

Piper Jaffray reiterates its Overweight rating and $32 target price on Express EXPR as it views the company as a favorite small-cap idea for 2012. Piper Jaffray notes, "We continue to favor EXPR as one of our favorite ideas heading into 2012 given continued investment into high ROIC areas such as a new loyalty program, a new store format, and e-commerce enhancements. Top-line growth should be supported by approximately 20 U.S. store openings per year over the next five years, with a recent foray into Canada representing an additional growth vehicle. Longer-term, we believe operating margins are poised to expand into the mid-to-high teens from an estimated 13.1% in FY12 given improving product margins, favorable channel shift, and leverage of fixed costs." EXPR closed at $20.08 per share on Friday.