SUSS’ EPS Growth To Receive A Boost From A Recovering Texas Economy

Analysts at Jefferies & Co initiate coverage of Susser Holdings

with a "buy" rating. The target price for SUSS is set to $14. Jefferies & Co expects SUSS to deliver impressive EPS growth over the next 12 months as “pent-up benefits from its Town & Country acquisition in late 2007 meet a recovering Texas economy.” The analysts mention, “On-shore rig counts have almost doubled from this time last year, while commercial traffic in South Texas is also headed higher.” “Susser is rebranding T&C to the Stripes banner and converting the T&C Country Cookin' restaurants to its flagship Laredo Taco Company offering. This process should be mostly complete by the end of FY10. While this initially can drag performance, the end result will likely be higher sales, especially in the foodservice area…. Susser's unique business model, strong management team, and underappreciated wholesale fuel and foodservice ops should lead to significant returns, in our view,” Jefferies adds.